Protected Disclosures Annual Report

01st January 2022 to 31st December 2022

1. Background

Under Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 (as amended by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022) each public body is required to publish an annual report setting out the number of protected disclosures received in the preceding year and the action taken (if any). This report must not result in persons making disclosures being identifiable.

With effect from 01st January 2024 there will be a new reporting deadline of 01st March and a requirement for an expanded report compared to previous ones.

This report follows the new reporting requirements (under Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 (as amended by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022) and refers to matters in calendar year 2022.

University College Cork has also put in place an updated policy for the making of protected disclosures having regard to the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022). This Policy has been approved by UCC’s Governing Body and is published on UCC’s website.

2. Matters Raised

(a) 1 matter was reported to the University in this period;

(b) 0 matters were transmitted to the Commissioner under section 8 of the Act (i.e. disclosed to a Government Minister);

(c) 0 matters were transmitted by the Commissioner under section 10C(1)(b) or 10D(1)(b)(ii) to another suitable person (within the meaning of section 10C or 10D, as the case may be) (disclosed to someone other than employer, prescribed person, Minister, legal adviser);

(d) 0 matters were transmitted to the University, prescribed person or Commissioner, as the case may be, under sections 7, 10B, 10C and 10D;

(e) in respect of the report referred to in paragraph (a), it was not a breach;

(f) 1 investigation was opened by the University in relation to the report referred to in paragraph (a);

(g) 1 investigation was opened, in the years preceding the year in respect of which the report is being made, by the University, prescribed person or Commissioner in relation to the relevant wrongdoings concerned that remain open;

(h) 1 investigation was closed by the University relating to the report referred to in paragraph (a); Page 2 of 2

(i) The investigation concluded that the actions the subject of the disclosure do not fall into the any of the categories of relevant wrongdoing;

(j) there was no financial damage and no amounts needed to be recovered following the investigation referred to in paragraph (h).