Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Finance to detail the whistleblowing protections which exist for private sector contractors and their employees employed on public sector projects.
Minister of Finance: Departments have adopted a policy framework for raising concerns (often referred to as Whistleblowing). The policy framework allows a concern to be raised by a member of staff or a member of the public (which would include contractors or their staff). This framework protects whistleblowers’ anonymity.
Links to the Departments’ Designated Officers and more details on the policy framework can be found at https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/raising-concerns .
As employers, private sector contractors will themselves be bound by the requirements around protected disclosures by employees set out in the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
ENDS
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