17.— (1) A person shall not, unless authorised by the Board or by an employee of the Board duly authorised in that behalf so to do, or required by law so to do, disclose confidential information obtained by him or her in his or her capacity, or while performing duties, as—

(a) a member of the Board or of a committee,

(b) the chief executive officer,

(c) an employee of the Board,

(d) a consultant or adviser engaged by the Board or an employee of such a consultant or adviser, or

(e) a person engaged by the Board in any other capacity.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to—

(a) a communication made by a member of the Board or of a committee, the chief executive officer or an employee of the Board, in the performance of any of his or her functions under this Act, being a communication the making of which was necessary for the performance by the member, chief executive officer or employee of the Board of any such function, or

(b) the disclosure by a member of the Board or of a committee, the chief executive officer, or an employee of the Board to any member of the Garda Síochána of information which, in the opinion of the member, or chief executive officer or employee, may relate to the commission of an offence triable on indictment.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both.

(4) 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.

(5) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the disclosure of information by means of a report made—

(a) to the Board or a committee, as the case may be, or

(b) by or on behalf of the Board or a committee to the Minister.

(6) In this section “confidential information” includes information that is expressed by the Board or a committee, as the case may be, to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description.