The Criminal Justice Bill 2011, which is designed to speed up garda investigations into 'white collar' crime, has passed a vote in the Dáil.
The legislation will now go the Seanad for approval and according to Minister for Justice Alan Shatter it should be enacted into law before Leinster House takes its summer recess next week.
Amongst the bill's provisions are additional protections for whistleblowers who report crimes or potential crimes to gardaí.
Mr Shatter said the proposals would give such people would be given 'full protection... against any form of reprisal by an employer for the furnishing of such information to the gardaí.'
Other provisions of the bill will make changes to the way detention periods work, allowing gardaí to 'suspend' a detention so that investigations can be conducted over a longer period of time.
The bill will also make it easier for Gardaí to compel people to produce documents relevant to an investigation.
