Whistleblowing
Obligation to disclose Commission of Offence to Authority.
Where, in the course of, and by virtue of the carrying out of, his or her duties in relation to a charitable organisation, information comes into the possession of a relevant person that causes him or her to form the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that an offence under the Act of 2001 has been or is being committed, the relevant person shall, as soon as may be, notify the Authority in writing of that opinion and provide the Authority with a report in writing of the particulars of the grounds upon which the opinion was formed.
A relevant person shall be guilty of an offence if he or she fails to comply with the above or knowingly makes a report above which is false or misleading in any material respect.
Persons Obliged
A “relevant person” means, in relation to a charitable organisation, a person who—
- is an auditor of the charitable organisation,
- is a charity trustee of the charitable organisation or is, for the time being, carrying out, or duly appointed to carry out, any of the functions of charity trustee of the charitable organisation,
- is an investment business firm (within the meaning of the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995), and has advised the charitable organisation, or has received any payment in relation to the investment of any of the property of the charitable organisation, or
- has been involved in the preparation of the annual report of the charitable organisation.
Defences
In proceedings for defamation, the defence of qualified privilege shall apply to the publication by the Authority of a report above or of any matter concerning the state and conduct of the affairs of a charitable organisation.
Where a person communicates his or her opinion, whether in writing or otherwise, to the Authority that—
- an offence under the Act has been or is being committed,
- any provision of the Act has not been or is not being complied with, or
- an offence under the Act of 2001 has been or is being committed in relation to the property of a charitable organisation,
then, unless he or she acted in bad faith, the person shall not be regarded as having committed any breach of duty towards the charitable organisation or any other person, and no person shall have a cause of action against the first-mentioned person in respect of that communication.
Whistleblowing
An employer shall not penalise an employee for having formed an opinion of the kind referred to above and communicated it, whether in writing or otherwise, to the Authority if the employee has acted reasonably and in good faith in forming that opinion and communicating it to the Authority.
In proceedings under Workplace Relations Act 2015 in relation to a complaint that the above provision has been contravened, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the employee concerned acted reasonably and in good faith in forming the opinion and making the communication concerned.
A decision of an adjudication officer in relation to a complaint of contravention shall do one or more of the following, namely —
- declare that the complaint was or, as the case may be, was not well founded,
- require the employer to comply and, for that purpose, require the employer to take a specified course of action, or
- require the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as the adjudication officer considers just and equitable having regard to all of the circumstances, but not exceeding 104 weeks ’ remuneration in respect of the employee’ s employment
A decision of the Labour Court, on appeal from a decision of an adjudication officer, shall affirm, vary or set aside the decision of the adjudication officer.
False Statements
Any person who states to the Authority that—
- an offence under this Act has been or is being committed,
- any provision of this Act has not been or is not being complied with, or
- an offence under the Act of 2001 has been or is being committed in relation to the property of a charitable organisation,
knowing that statement to be false shall be guilty of an offence.