International Protection Act 2026
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Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure of confidential information | ||
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276. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person shall not disclose confidential information obtained by him or her in his or her capacity, or while performing duties as— | ||
(a) a member of the Advisory Board, | ||
(b) a member of the staff of the Chief Inspector, | ||
(c) the Chief Inspector, or | ||
(d) a person engaged by the Chief Inspector in any other capacity. | ||
(2) Subsection (1) shall not operate to prevent the disclosure of confidential information by a person referred to in that subsection where— | ||
(a) the disclosure is made to the Chief Inspector or a member of the staff of the Chief Inspector in the performance of the functions of the Chief Inspector, | ||
(b) the disclosure is made in the performance of the functions of the Chief Inspector, | ||
(c) the disclosure is made by or on behalf of the Chief Inspector to the Minister, | ||
(d) the disclosure is made in compliance with a requirement of this Act or is otherwise required by law, | ||
(e) the disclosure is made by a person in the circumstances referred to in section 35 (2) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 , | ||
(f) the disclosure is a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 , or | ||
(g) the disclosure is made to a member of An Garda Síochána and, in the opinion of the person making the disclosure, the information may relate to the commission of an offence. | ||
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both. | ||
(4) In this section, “confidential information” includes— | ||
(a) information that is expressed by the Chief Inspector 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 the Chief Inspector by contractors, consultants or any other person. |