31.— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 261(1), by inserting “or such information as is contained in declarations made in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations 2000 (S.I. No. 71 of 2000)” after “or of any payments made under this Act”, and

(b) by inserting the following section after section 261:

“Disclosure of certain information to Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, etc.

261A.— (1) In this section—

‘ specified body ’ means the body dedicated to employment rights compliance to be established or established (both on an interim and a statutory basis) and referred to in sections 12.3 and 13.1 of Part Two of the publication entitled ‘Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2015’, published on behalf of the Department of the Taoiseach in June 2006 by the Stationery Office and known as ‘Towards 2016’.

(2) Notwithstanding any obligation to maintain secrecy or any other restriction on the disclosure or production of information obtained by or furnished to the Minister, the Minister may transfer to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body information held by the Minister in relation to—

(a) the employers of individuals, or

(b) individuals, as to whether or not they are in insurable employment or insurable self-employment,

and information of the type referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) held by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body may be transferred by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body, as the case may be, to the Minister.

(3) Information transferred by the Minister under subsection (2) to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body may be used only by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body, as the case may be, in the exercise of their powers and functions in relation to employment rights compliance and shall not be disclosed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the specified body to any other person (other than to each other) for any other purpose whatsoever.”.