Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

• Permanent Page URL

Provisions relating to prosecutions.

[1993 s224(1); 2005 (SW&P) s23 & Sch 1]

272.—(1) A prosecution for a summary offence may be brought at the suit of—

(a) the Minister,

(b) the Executive in any case arising out of the exercise of its functions under this Act, where the offence has occurred within any of its functional areas, or

(c) the Collector-General in any case arising out of the exercise of his or her functions under this Act.

(2) An officer of the Minister shall not institute any summary proceedings for an offence under this Act at the suit of the Minister unless the officer is authorised in that behalf by special or general directions of the Minister or the Minister has consented to the initiation of those proceedings.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1) or any provision in any enactment specifying the period within which proceedings may be commenced, a prosecution for a summary offence under this Act may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods later expires—

(a) 2 years commencing on the date on which the offence was committed, or

(b) 18 months commencing on the date on which evidence sufficient to justify the institution of the prosecution came into the possession of the Minister.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a certificate, sealed with the official seal of the Minister, as to the date on which the evidence referred to in that subsection came into his or her possession shall be sufficient evidence thereof until the contrary is shown.

(5) Where in a prosecution for an offence under this Act it is shown to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that an application has been made by a person (in this section referred to as “the defendant”) for any benefit, and

(b) that as a result of that application any such benefit has been paid to any person (whether or not the benefit was that applied for and whether or not it was paid to the defendant),

the defendant shall be presumed to have given any information contained in the application (or to have caused it to be given on his or her behalf) and, where the information is false, with full knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it should deceive; but this presumption may be rebutted.

(6) (a) For the purpose of the institution of proceedings under this Act a certificate, purporting to be given by an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister and to be signed by that officer, certifying the facts set out in paragraph (b), shall be sufficient evidence in any legal proceedings of the matters certified in the certificate, until the contrary is shown.

(b) The facts referred to in paragraph (a) are that a person is an officer of the Minister and that he or she has been authorised under a special or general direction of the Minister to institute the proceedings, or that the Minister has consented to the institution of those proceedings.

(7) (a) In proceedings instituted by virtue of section 17 , a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners which certifies that a stated amount is due and payable by the defendant shall be evidence until the contrary is proved that that amount is due and payable, and when tendered in evidence is deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by that officer.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the rules of the court concerned for the time being applicable to civil proceedings applies to proceedings by virtue of section 17 .