The Speak Up Report 2020
TI Ireland’s Speak Up Report 2020 is based on data collected from over 1,400 whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption who contacted the Speak Up Helpline. The report includes analysis of the EU Whistleblowing Directive, how it is likely to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and TI Ireland’s recommendations for further reform. The recommendations include; extending access to the employment law system to all reporting persons, the removal of caps on compensation for awards to workers who are found by the Workplace Relations Commission to have suffered a detriment as a result of making a protected disclosure; and expanding the definition of relevant wrongdoings to include breaches of soft law mechanisms such as professional codes of conduct.TI Ireland also published a list of recommendations it has made on how Ireland’s anti-fraud and anti-corruption structures should be strengthened.
The Speak Up Report 2017
TI Ireland’s Speak Up Report 2017 is based on data collected from over 850 whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption who contacted the Speak Up Helpline. The report suggested that the risk of corruption and other forms of wrongdoing is relatively high in The Gardaí Síochána, the Health Service, and in the Banking and Finance Sector. The report includes the results of the 2016 Integrity at Work survey, which for the first time measured the attitudes and experiences of Irish private-sector employees and employers to whistleblowing.
The Speak Up Report 2015
In 2015, TI Ireland published the Speak Up Report 2015 based on data collected from over 500 whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption who contacted the Speak Up Helpline. The report suggested that the risk of corruption and other forms of wrongdoing is relatively high in Local Government and the Health Service, as well as Social Services including Charities. TI Ireland also published a list of recommendations to address systemic shortcomings that hinder efforts to combat corruption such as improving intelligence sharing among law enforcement agencies; providing additional investigative powers and resources for regulatory agencies; promoting Local Authorities statutory Fraud and Anti-Corruption Alert Plans; banning public officials from receiving gifts during their employment and improving education and awareness on corruption.
An Alternative to Silence
Transparency International Ireland has taken particular interest in the protections afforded to whistleblowers under Irish Law. In 2010, TI Ireland published the Alternative to Silence study, which highlighted a number of important cases that demonstrate the shortcomings of the ‘sectoral approach’ to whistleblowing legislation. It accompanied the Transparency International report “Alternative to Silence – Whistleblower Protection in 10 European Countries” in which Ireland’s whistleblower safeguards are examined in a regional context. The study includes interviews with three prominent whistleblowers including Eugene McErlean, the former head of group audit with Allied Irish Banks. Mr McErlean reported overcharging and other wrongdoing at the bank, which he claims was then ignored by the Financial Regulator.