Higher Education Authority Act 2022
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Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure by members of staff of An tÚdarás of confidential information | ||
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32. (1) A person shall not disclose confidential information obtained by him or her while performing functions as a member of the staff of, or an adviser or consultant to An tÚdarás, or a member of the staff of such an adviser or consultant, unless he or she is authorised by An tÚdarás to so do. | ||
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both. | ||
(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent the disclosure of information— | ||
(a) in a report made to An tÚdarás, | ||
(b) by or on behalf of An tÚdarás to the Minister, | ||
(c) by a member of the Board to the Minister, | ||
(d) by a person in the circumstances referred to in section 35 (2) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 , or | ||
(e) that is a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 . | ||
(4) In this section “confidential information” includes— | ||
(a) information that is expressed by An tÚdarás to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and | ||
(b) proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to An tÚdarás by contractors, consultants or any other person. |