F106[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.]