Employers in both the public and private sectors are being asked to commit themselves to protecting whistleblowers within their organisations and to raising awareness in their companies on the value of disclosing wrongdoing.

Transparency International Ireland launched an initiative on Thursday named Integrity at Work (IAW) which has the support of the Government.

It aims to promote a cultural change in the workplace and encourage people and companies to adhere to the terms of the Protected Disclosures Act, the 2014 legislation that seeks to encourage whistleblowing and give protection to the whistleblower.

Whistleblowing could be "a brave and lonely act", Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said at the launch of the initiative. But "it is an essential part of a healthy democracy", he said.

Public interest

In tandem with the initiative, Transparency International Ireland published the results of a Behaviour and Attitudes survey of employers.

It showed the vast majority of employers support the idea of whistleblowing, defined at exposing behaviour, in public or private bodies, that is corrupt, illegal, fraudulent or hazardous, and which is likely to threaten the public interest. It found 95 per cent of employers said it was in the interests of their organisation or sector for people to speak up about wrongdoing.

Reputational damage

A smaller number, 79 per cent, said they would hire or consider hiring someone who had blown the whistle on wrongdoing in a previous job.

However less than two-thirds of employers (64 per cent) would encourage an employee to report wrongdoing where the disclosure might harm the reputation of their organisation.

The survey also indicated the majority of employers, 66 per cent, had no procedures or policies in place to protect whistleblowers or to channel their reports to the appropriate person.

It was encouraging to see generally positive attitudes towards whistleblowing, said Mr Donohoe. But he said it showed much more needed to be done to raise awareness of the Act and “to ensure that organisations have measures in place to act on reports from their staff and make sure that whistleblowers don’t suffer as a result of their disclosures”.

The Act was the “bedrock legislation” for transparency, openness and whistleblowing in Ireland, said Mr Donohoe, and it was being looked at by other countries.