Ombudsman Act 1980
Secrecy of information.
9.—(1) Information or a document or thing obtained by the Ombudsman or his officers in the course of, or for the purpose of, a preliminary examination, or investigation, under this Act shall not be disclosed except for the purposes of—
(a) the examination or investigation and of any statement, report or notification to be made thereon under this Act, or
(b) any proceedings for an offence under the Official Secrets Act, 1963, alleged to have been committed in respect of information or a document or thing obtained by the Ombudsman or any of his officers by virtue of this Act,
and the Ombudsman or his officers shall not be called upon to give evidence in any proceedings (other than such proceedings as aforesaid) of matters coming to his or their knowledge in the course of a preliminary examination, or an investigation, under this Act.
(2) (a) A Minister of the Government may give notice in writing to the Ombudsman, with respect to any F19[exempt record] specified in the notice, or any class of F19[exempt record] so specified, that, in the opinion of the Minister of the Government, the disclosure (other than to the Ombudsman or officers of the Ombudsman) of that F19[exempt record] or of F19[exempt records] of that class, would, for the reasons stated in the notice, be prejudicial to the public interest.
(b) The Revenue Commissioners may give notice in writing to the Ombudsman, with respect to any F19[exempt record] in their power or control specified in the notice, or any class of such F19[exempt record] so specified, that in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners the disclosure (other than to the Ombudsman or officers of the Ombudsman) of that F19[exempt record] or of F19[exempt records] of that class, would, for the reasons stated in the notice, be prejudicial to the public interest.
(c) Where a notice is given under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorising or requiring the Ombudsman or any officer of the Ombudsman to communicate to any person or for any purpose any F19[exempt record] specified in the notice or any F19[exempt record] of a class so specified.
F19[(d) In this subsection, "exempt record" has the meaning given by section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997.]
Annotations
Amendments:
F19
Substituted (31.10.2012) by Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 (38/2012), s. 13, in effect as per s. 1(3).
Modifications (not altering text):
C21
Application of section extended (25.04.2004) by Ombudsman For Children Act 2002 (22/2002), s. 16, S.I. No. 925 of 2004.
Secrecy of information.
16.—Section 9 of the Act of 1980 shall apply to information, documents or things obtained by the Ombudsman for Children or members of his or her staff under this Act as it applies to information, documents or things obtained by the Ombudsman or his or her officers under that Act with any necessary modifications.
C22
Application of Act restricted (19.04.1989) by Data Protection Act 1988 (Restriction of Section 4) Regulations 1989 (S.I. No. 81 of 1989), reg. 3 and sch., in effect as per reg. 2.
Data Protection Act, 1988 (Restriction of Section 4) Regulations, 1989
...
3. The prohibition and restrictions on the disclosure, and the authorisations of the withholding, of information contained in the provision of the enactments specified in the Schedule to these Regulations shall prevail in the interests of the data subjects concerned and any other individuals concerned.
Schedule
...
Section 9 of the Ombudsman Act, 1980 (No. 26 of 1980)
...
Editorial Notes:
E21
Previous affecting provision: application of section restricted (19.04.1989) by Data Protection Act 1988 (Restriction of Section 4) Regulations 1989 (S.I. No. 81 of 1989), reg. 3 and sch., in effect as per reg. 2; revoked other than for excepted purposes (25.05.2018) by Data Protection Act 2018 (7/2018), s. 7(3) and sch. 1, S.I No. 174 of 2018, subject to s. 7(4).