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How to report wrongdoing
From Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner (OPDC)
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Deciding to report a wrongdoing might be a big decision for you depending on your circumstances. If you wish to discuss it first, Transparency International Ireland offer a safe and confidential information and support service, as well as access to free legal advice on making protected disclosures.
You can make a report of wrongdoing to:
Most people first contact their employer to report wrongdoing. Your employer may have a policy and a dedicated reporting channel for dealing with reports of wrongdoing, which you can use to make your report.
If you do not want to make a report to your employer, you can consider contacting a prescribed person. Prescribed persons are public service bodies, mainly regulators, who have been designated to receive disclosures directly from any person or body within their area of responsibility. Here’s a link to a full list of “prescribed persons”
If, having considered the options available to you, you are not sure who to contact, you can make a report to us, the Protected Disclosures Commissioner. You can
- use our downloadable form (below) to help you
- or email us at info@opdc.ie
- or call us on 01 639 5650.
The Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner form
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If we decide there is no appropriate prescribed person to send it to, we may deal with your report as the prescribed person recipient of last resort. For more information on how reports that are accepted by the Commissioner as recipient of last report are handled, please see our procedures .
If you are or were employed by a public body you may be able to make a report to Government Minister who has a responsibility for the public body. If you make a report to a Minister, you must satisfy additional conditions to qualify for the protections under the Protected Disclosures Act. When a Minister receives a report they must, without having considered the report, send it to the Protected Disclosures Commissioner who will identify the appropriate prescribed person or other suitable person to whom to send the report.
A disclosure of information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings is not a protected disclosure if it is made by a person to whom the information was disclosed in the course of obtaining legal advice from a barrister, solicitor, trade union official or official of an excepted body (within the meaning of section 6 of the Trade Union Act 1941).
To other external persons who are not specified above, for example you can make a report to a journalist. If you make a report to an other person, you must satisfy additional conditions to qualify for the protections under the Protected Disclosures Act. We strongly recommend that you seek advice before making this type of report to assess whether you satisfy those conditions.
You may report the wrongdoing in writing, in person, by email or by telephone. In all cases, whether you decide to report to your employer, or a prescribed person, or to the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, you should:
- be clear and factual;
- provide the date of the alleged wrongdoing (if known) or the date the alleged wrongdoing commenced or was identified;
- state whether or not the wrongdoing is still on-going or is likely to take place;
- indicate whether the wrongdoing has already been disclosed and if so to whom, when and what action was taken;
- provide relevant information in respect of the relevant wrongdoing;
- avoid speculation, personal attacks and emotive language.
Remember, a report of wrongdoing is not always a protected disclosure. You can read more at 'what a protected disclosure is' or use the resources below.
Further information and advice on making a report of wrongdoing is available below:
You may wish to check with your employer within your organisation first. Many employers have a whistleblowing policy.
For example, the HSE policy can be accessed here.
Transparency International Ireland is an independent, non-governmental organisation. Transparency International Ireland operates a confidential helpline, and provides access to free legal advice on making a protected disclosure through the Transparency Legal Advice Centre. The Helpline can provide free referrals for professional counselling on request.
The Citizens Information website provides additional information on Protected Disclosures on its page ‘Protection for whistleblowers’.
The Workplace Relations Commission has prepared a code of practice giving guidance and setting out best practice to help employers, workers and their representatives understand the law in regard to the disclosure of information regarding wrongdoing in the workplace and how to deal with the disclosure of such information: www.workplacerelations.ie