Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I consider that this needs careful legal scrutiny and I need to reflect further on the proposed amendment in the context of other confidentiality provisions in the Bill. I am not sure that it meets the objectives of what the Deputy outlines. I think that all this is covered in a much clearer way in Chapter 10, where, under "Prohibited disclosures", section 51(1) states that "A person shall not disclose confidential information obtained in the capacity of or in the course of acting as" and lists a range of people. Then subsection (2) states that subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure authorised by the regulator. Therefore, I believe that these powers are already there. I think the amendment, as the Deputy has put it forward, is contradictory in some ways and makes the Bill less rather than more clear.