Protected disclosures
NCRI's board has established internal reporting channels and procedures, detailed in its Protected Disclosures Policy, in accordance with the Protected Disclosures Act.
The Protected Disclosures Act provides statutory protections for workers who raise concerns about wrongdoing in the workplace.
Section 21 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 requires public bodies to establish and maintain procedures for the making of protected disclosures by workers who are or were employed by the public body and for dealing with such disclosures.
Written information in relation to those procedures must be provided to workers employed by the public body.
NCRI’s Protected Disclosures Policy details the procedures in respect of protected disclosures and is informed by the guidance issued by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in this regard.
In accordance with section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, NCRI publishes an annual report no later than 31 March each year relating to the number of protected disclosures made to it in the immediately preceding calendar year and any actions taken in response to such disclosures.
NCRI is also required to submit statistics on any protected disclosures received to the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform by 1 March each year in respect of the immediately preceding calendar year.
In practice, NCRI submits these statistics to the Department of Health to enable it to compile statistics for all the bodies under the aegis of the Department.