Annual figures are now being published as a result of legislative changes made by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022.

The first annual report reveals that 1,162 reports were made in 2023, of which 173 (15 per cent) were made internally and 989 (85 per cent) were made externally to prescribed persons or to the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner.

Some 734 reports were deemed to require further follow-up, with 161 being sent for further proceedings.

In one case, a protected disclosure made internally within the HSE led to the return of €3.7 million to the exchequer.

Public expenditure, NDP delivery and reform minister Paschal Donohoe said: “My department is committed to building trust in government through accountability and transparency and to taking an evidence-based approach to policy making.

“It is important to ensure that legislative and policy decisions are being informed by accurate data. This must be done so with care in order to safeguard confidentiality and support the protections against penalisation provided in the Act.

He continued: “Ireland has one of the strongest whistleblower protection laws in world. The legislation is in place to allow an environment of openness and integrity in workplaces across the country.

“This data provides an appropriate overview of the protected disclosures landscape in Ireland. It is my intention that this will be the first of a number of reports that will help to assemble a vital data set to be used in evaluating the performance of this Act.”