Annual Report to be provided to the Minister for Public Expenditure, NPD Delivery and Reform, pursuant to Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as amended.
Protected Disclosures Annual Report 2023 – Home Building Finance Ireland (“HBFI”)
Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as amended, requires the submission of certain information to the Minister and the publication of a report each year.
HBFI operates a Protected Disclosures Policy (“Policy”), which is reviewed and approved annually by the HBFI Audit and Risk Committee, most recently in June 2023. The Policy is published on the HBFI website.
The Policy and related procedures, promote principles of good corporate governance by providing a mechanism for the reporting and addressing of concerns about possible relevant wrongdoing within the meaning of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as amended. HBFI confirms that its Policy applies to all HBFI “workers” and makes provision for disclosure of relevant information either through internal reporting channels and procedures (through a line manager or the NTMA’s Head of Compliance) or external reporting channels and procedures (by means of a “Nominated Person” (as set out in the Policy)).
The NTMA Head of Compliance and the Nominated Person (where so advised) are then required to report to the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee is responsible for (i) the ownership of the Policy, insofar as it relates to the functions of HBFI, (ii) oversight of its implementation with regard to these functions and (iii) oversight of investigations to include liaison with the NTMA Head of Compliance to ensure any reports received are properly evaluated and investigated.
HBFI further confirms it has, as required, submitted its report for 2023 to the Minister, details of which can be found below.