29. (1) A person shall not, unless he or she is required or permitted by law or duly authorised by the Commission to do so, disclose confidential information obtained by him or her while performing functions as—

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

(b) the Director, a member of staff of the Office, a consultant, advisor or other person who is or was engaged under contract or other arrangement by the Commission.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.

(3) In this section, “confidential information” includes—

(a) information that is expressed by the Commission to be confidential either as regards particular information or as regards information of a particular class or description, and

(b) proposals of a commercial nature or tenders submitted to the Commission by contractors, consultants or any other person.