15.— (1) A person shall not, without the consent in writing of the Authority or as required by law, disclose confidential information obtained by that person in any capacity, or while performing functions, as any of the following:

(a) a member of the Authority or an advisory committee;

(b) the Chief Executive;

(c) a member of the staff of the Authority;

(d) a consultant or adviser appointed by the Authority or an employee of a consultant or adviser;

(e) an inspector.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the disclosure of information by a person in the circumstances referred to in section 35(2) of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995.

(4) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the disclosure of information—

(a) to the Authority,

(b) by or on behalf of the Authority to the Minister, or

(c) which, in the opinion of a person referred to in that subsection, may relate to the commission of an indictable offence to—

(i) the Director of Corporate Enforcement,

(ii) the Competition Authority,

(iii) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(iv) an officer of the Revenue Commissioners,

(v) the Central Bank of Ireland, or

(vi) such other person as may be prescribed under section 96 after consultation by the Minister with any other Minister of the Government appearing to the Minister to be concerned.

(5) In this section, “confidential information” means information that is expressed by the Authority to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description.