38.— (1) A person who is given a draft report by the committee under section 35 may, within a period specified by the committee, request in writing the committee to omit from the draft report any information provided by the person to the committee—

(a) that the person considers to be commercially sensitive, and

(b) the disclosure of which is not, in the person’s opinion, necessary for the purposes of the Part 2 inquiry.

(2) The committee, after considering a request under subsection (1) made to it, shall review the draft report and may, if satisfied that the information is commercially sensitive and that its disclosure is not necessary for the purposes of the Part 2 inquiry, omit the information from the report.

(3) For the purposes of this section, information is commercially sensitive if its disclosure could reasonably be expected to—

(a) substantially and materially prejudice the commercial or industrial interests of—

(i) the person who provided that information to the committee,

(ii) the person to whom the information relates, or

(iii) a class of persons in which a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) falls,

(b) substantially prejudice the competitive position of a person in the conduct of the person’s business, profession or occupation, or

(c) substantially prejudice the financial position of the State or a public body.