Charities Act 2009

Provision for security of information.

70.— (1) Subject to sections 66 and 71 , no book, document or other record obtained under section 68 or 69 shall, without the prior consent of the charitable organisation to which it relates, be disclosed, except to a competent authority, unless the disclosure is required—

(a) for the purpose of detecting, investigating or prosecuting an offence,

(b) in the case of a charitable organisation that is a company, for the purposes of proceedings brought by the Director of Corporate Enforcement under the Companies Acts for the winding up of the company,

(c) for the purposes of an application under section 69 (1).

(2) A person who publishes or discloses any information, book or document in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) In this section “competent authority” means—

(a) the Authority,

(b) the Minister,

(c) a person duly authorised by the Minister for the purposes of this section,

(d) an inspector,

(e) the Minister for Finance,

(f) the Revenue Commissioners,

(g) the Central Bank, or

(h) a court of competent jurisdiction.