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1 1963

OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT, 1963

PART II

Official Information

Disclosure of official information.

4. —(1) A person shall not communicate any official information to any other person unless he is duly authorised to do so or does so in the course of and in accordance with his duties as the holder of a public office or when it is his duty in the interest of the State to communicate it.

(2) A person to whom subsection (1) applies shall take reasonable care to avoid any unlawful communication of such information.

(3) A person shall not obtain official information where he is aware or has reasonable grounds for believing that the communication of such information to him would be a contravention of subsection (1).

(4) In this section “duly authorised” means authorised by a Minister or State authority or by some person authorised in that behalf by a Minister or State authority.

Disclosure of confidential information in official contracts.

5. —(1) A person who is or has been—

(a) a party to a contract with a Minister or State authority or with any person on behalf of a Minister or State authority, or

(b) employed by such party,

shall not communicate to any third party any information relating to the contract and expressed therein to be confidential.

(2) A person to whom subsection (1) applies shall take reasonable care to avoid any unlawful communication of such information.

(3) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution for a contravention of this section to prove that the communication was authorised in writing by the Minister or State authority or by the party contracting on behalf of the Minister or State authority.

Retention of documents and articles.

6. —(1) A person shall not retain any official document or anything which constitutes or contains official information when he has no right to retain it or when not required by his duty as the holder of a public office to retain it.

(2) A person shall comply with all directions issued by a Minister or the Secretary of a Department or any person authorised by a Minister under seal as to the return or disposal of any official document or anything which constitutes or contains official information and which is in his possession or under his control and is specified or indicated in such directions.

(3) The Taoiseach may give directions as to the return or disposal of any original documents specified or indicated in such directions which constitute or contain official information and which are in the possession or under the control of any person who formerly held office as a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary and any such person shall comply with all such directions.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to a person who formerly held an office to which subsection (3) applies.

Offences relating to official dies, seals and stamps.

7. —(1) A person shall not—

(a) use or have in his possession or under his control, without lawful authority or excuse, any official die, seal or stamp or any die, seal or stamp so nearly resembling it as to be calculated to deceive, or

(b) counterfeit any official die, seal or stamp, or

(c) use or have in his possession or under his control, without lawful authority or excuse, any such counterfeit die, seal or stamp, or

(d) manufacture or sell or have in his possession for sale, without lawful authority or excuse, any official die, seal or stamp.

(2) In this section “official die, seal or stamp” means a die, seal or stamp of or belonging to, or used, made or provided by a Minister or State authority or any diplomatic or consular agent or other authority appointed by or acting under the authority of the Government.

Forgery, etc., of official documents.

8. —A person shall not—

(a) forge or, without lawful authority or excuse, alter or tamper with any official document, or

(b) use or have in his possession or under his control, without lawful authority or excuse, any forged, altered or irregular official document.