Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2019
Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure of confidential information | ||
14. The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 26: | ||
“26. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person shall not disclose confidential information obtained by him or her while performing functions as— | ||
(a) a member of the Board or a committee of the Board (including the audit committee established under section 40H), | ||
(b) the chief executive officer or any other employee of the Executive, | ||
(c) a person engaged by the Executive as an adviser under section 24, | ||
(d) an employee of a person referred to in paragraph (c), or | ||
(e) a person appointed under section 16S(2) to conduct an independent review, | ||
unless he or she is required by law, or duly authorised by the Executive or, in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (e), the Minister, to do so. | ||
(2) A person does not contravene subsection (1) by disclosing confidential information if— | ||
(a) the disclosure is made to the Board, | ||
(b) the disclosure is made to the Minister by or on behalf of the Executive, or by or on behalf of a person referred to in paragraph (e) of subsection (1), or in compliance with a requirement of this Act, or | ||
(c) the disclosure is a protected disclosure under Part 9A or the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 . | ||
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence. | ||
(4) In this section, ‘confidential information’ means— | ||
(a) in the case of persons referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (1)— | ||
(i) information that is expressed by the Executive to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and | ||
(ii) information relating to proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Executive by contractors, consultants or any other person, | ||
and | ||
(b) in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (e) of subsection (1)— | ||
(i) information that is expressed by the Minister to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and | ||
(ii) information relating to proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Executive by contractors, consultants or any other person.”. |