Glossary
Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 (Ireland)
Ireland's transposition of EU Directive 2019/1937, in force since 1 January 2023, amending the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. Every public body and every private employer with 50 or more workers must operate internal reporting channels. Unfair-dismissal compensation reaches up to five years' remuneration, the longest in any EU jurisdiction. Interim relief is available.
Full definition
Ireland transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 through the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022, which amends the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. From 1 January 2023, every public body and every private employer with 50+ workers must operate internal reporting channels. The Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, established within the Office of the Ombudsman, acts as the external channel, receiving reports and assigning them to prescribed persons across regulators. Sanctions: dismissal in penalisation for a protected disclosure can result in unfair-dismissal compensation up to five years' remuneration (the longest in any EU jurisdiction), and interim relief is available. Pre-existing Irish case law (Connaughton v. Hyde Park Education) is preserved on the meaning of 'reasonable belief'. The amendment introduced the offence of penalising a worker for making a protected disclosure (Class A fine plus up to two years imprisonment on indictment) and the offence of hindering disclosure. Anonymous reports must be accepted but anonymity does not by itself trigger the protections; if anonymity is broken and the reporter is then penalised, the protections engage retroactively.
Related terms
- National Transposition The national law that each EU member state enacts to implement EU Directive 2019/1937 domestically. A directive is not directly applicable: each state must pass its own law. States may exceed the minimum requirements (Spain set a €1m fine ceiling) but may not fall below them. All 27 member states had transposed Directive 2019/1937 by 2026.
- Retaliation Any direct or indirect adverse measure taken against a whistleblower because of their report. Article 19 of EU Directive 2019/1937 prohibits dismissal, demotion, transfer, withheld training, negative reviews, reputational damage, blacklisting, and contract termination. Article 21(5) reverses the burden of proof so the employer must justify the measure on unrelated grounds.
- Competent Authority A national body designated to receive whistleblower reports directly from reporters, bypassing the employer. Each EU member state designates one or more competent authorities under EU Directive 2019/1937 Article 11. Examples: Germany's Bundesamt für Justiz, France's Défenseur des droits, Italy's ANAC, Spain's AAI, and the Netherlands' Huis voor Klokkenluiders.