36.—(1) Where, in the course or for the purposes of any investigation, mediation or hearing under this Part, or of any inquiry under Part V of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, any person discloses information to the Authority, the F81[Director of the Workplace Relations Commission] or any other person entitled to obtain it, the disclosure shall not give rise to any liability (in contract, tort or otherwise) on the part of the person making it.

(2) No information furnished to or otherwise acquired by the Authority, the F81[Director of the Workplace Relations Commission] or any other person by virtue of sections 33 to 35, or otherwise in the course or for the purposes of any investigation, mediation, hearing or inquiry aforesaid, shall be published or otherwise disclosed except—

(a) for the purposes of such an investigation, mediation, hearing or inquiry,

(b) on the order of the High Court or the Circuit Court,

(c) with the consent of the person furnishing the information and of any other person to whom the information may relate,

(d) in a decision of the F81[Director of the Workplace Relations Commission] published or made available under section 30 and to which the disclosure of the information is relevant, or

(e) for the purposes of an application under section 35.

(3) In this section “information” includes any record, book, document or other thing in which the information is contained.

(4) A person who discloses information in contravention of subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence.