Consumer Protection Act 2007
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Authorised officers of Agency. |
30.— (1) The Agency may appoint in writing such and so many persons, including members of the staff of the Agency, to be authorised officers for the purposes of all or any of the relevant statutory provisions and such appointment may be specified to be for a fixed period. | |
(2) An authorised officer under section 16 of the Consumer Information Act 1978 holding office immediately before the commencement of section 37 shall continue in office as if appointed under subsection (1). | ||
(3) Every authorised officer appointed under this section shall be furnished with a warrant of appointment and shall, when exercising any power conferred on him or her by this section, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant of appointment or copy of it to that person. | ||
(4) An appointment under this section as an authorised officer shall cease— | ||
(a) if the Agency revokes the appointment, | ||
(b) if the appointment is for a fixed period, on the expiry of that period, or | ||
(c) if the person appointed ceases to be a member of staff of the Agency. | ||
(5) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of obtaining any information which may be required in relation to a matter under investigation under any of the relevant statutory provisions— | ||
(a) at all reasonable times enter any premises on, at or in which there are reasonable grounds to believe that any trade or business or any activity in connection with a trade or business is being, or has been, carried on, or that records in relation to that trade, business or activity are kept, and search and inspect the premises and any records that are on, at or in that premises, | ||
(b) secure for later inspection any, or any part of any, premises on, at or in which such records are kept or there are reasonable grounds for believing that such records are kept, | ||
(c) require any person who carries on such trade, business or activity or any person employed in respect of such trade, business or activity to produce to the authorised officer such records and where such records are kept in a non-legible form to reproduce them in a legible form or to give to him or her any information as the authorised officer may reasonably require in relation to such records, | ||
(d) inspect and take copies of or extracts from any such records on, at or in the premises, including in the case of information in a non-legible form, copies of or extracts from such information in a permanent legible form, | ||
(e) remove and retain such records for such periods as may be reasonable for further examination, subject to a warrant being issued for that purpose by a judge of the District Court, | ||
(f) require any such person to give to the authorised officer any information which the authorised officer may reasonably require in regard to such trade, business or activity or in respect of the persons carrying on such trade, business or activity or employed in connection with such trade, business or activity, | ||
(g) require any such person to give to the authorised officer any other information which the authorised officer may reasonably require in respect of such trade, business or activity, | ||
(h) require any person by or on whose behalf data equipment is or has been used or any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the data equipment or any associated apparatus or material, to afford the authorised officer all reasonable assistance in relation to it and assist in the retrieval of information connected with the operation of such data equipment, apparatus or material, | ||
(i) summon, at any reasonable time, any other person employed in connection with such trade, business or activity to give to the authorised officer any information which the authorised officer may reasonably require in relation to such trade, business or activity and to produce to the authorised officer any records which are in the control of that other person. | ||
(6) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of obtaining any information which may be required in relation to a matter under investigation under the relevant statutory provisions, at all reasonable times enter any premises, at which there are reasonable grounds to believe that any trade or business or any activity in connection with a trade or business is, or has been, carried on and inspect any goods on the premises and may— | ||
(a) on paying or making tender of payment therefor, take any of the goods, or | ||
(b) confirm by such other method as appropriate the price at which the goods are on offer or any other information relating to the goods for the purpose of an investigation. | ||
(7) An authorised officer shall not, other than with the consent of the occupier, enter a private dwelling unless he or she has obtained a warrant from the District Court under subsection (10) authorising such entry. | ||
(8) Where an authorised officer in the exercise of his or her powers under this section is prevented from entering any premises an application may be made under subsection (10) authorising such entry. | ||
(9) An authorised officer appointed under this section, when exercising any powers conferred on an authorised officer by this Act, may be accompanied by such other authorised officers or members of the Garda Síochána or both as he or she considers necessary. | ||
(10) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on an authorised officer by or under any provision of this section, if a judge of the District Court is satisfied on the sworn information of an authorised officer that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is information required by an authorised officer under this section held on or at any, or any part of any, premises, the judge may issue a warrant authorising an authorised officer (accompanied by such other authorised officers or members of the Garda Síochána or both as provided for in subsection (9)) at any time or times within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter the premises, using reasonable force where necessary, and exercise all or any of the powers conferred on an authorised officer under this section. | ||
(11) A person who falsely represents himself or herself as an authorised officer commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to the fines and penalties provided in Chapter 4 of Part 5 . | ||
(12) A person who— | ||
(a) obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of a power under this section, | ||
(b) without reasonable excuse, does not comply with a request or requirement of an authorised officer under this section, or | ||
(c) in purported compliance with such a requirement gives information that is false or misleading in a material respect, | ||
commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to the fines and penalties provided in Chapter 4 of Part 5 . | ||
(13) Where the Agency or an authorised officer proposes to retain, pursuant to this section, books, documents or records for a period longer than 14 days after the date on which they were seized or obtained by the authorised officer, the Agency or that officer shall, before the expiry of that period of 14 days, or such longer period with the consent of the person hereafter mentioned, furnish, on request, a copy of the books, documents or records to the person who it appears to the Agency or officer is, but for the exercise of the powers under this section, entitled to possession of them. | ||
(14) Where an advertisement in relation to the supply or provision of any product is published and does not include the name and address of the person who procured such publication or his or her agent, the publisher of the advertisement shall, if the Agency or an authorised officer so requests within 12 months of the publication of the advertisement, give to the Agency or the authorised officer, the name and address of such person or his or her agent. | ||
(15) A person who fails to comply with a request under subsection (14) or, in purported compliance with such a request, gives information that is false or misleading in a material respect, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to the fines and penalties provided in Chapter 4 of Part 5 . | ||
(16) In this section— | ||
“premises” means any place or vehicle; | ||
“ records ” includes, in addition to a record in writing— | ||
(a) discs, tapes, sound-tracks or other devices, including electronic devices, in which information, sounds or signals are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form, | ||
(b) films, tapes or other devices, including electronic devices, in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form, | ||
(c) photographs, | ||
and a reference to copies of records includes— | ||
(i) in the case of records falling within paragraph (a) only, transcripts of the sounds or signals embodied in them, | ||
(ii) in the case of records falling within paragraph (b) only, still reproductions of the images embodied in them, and | ||
(iii) in the case of records falling within both paragraphs (a) and (b), such transcripts together with such still reproductions; | ||
“vehicle” means any conveyance in or by which any person or thing, or both, is transported which is designed for use on land, or in water or in the air, or in more than one of those ways, and includes— | ||
(a) part of a vehicle, | ||
(b) an article designed as a vehicle but not capable of functioning as a vehicle, | ||
(c) a skip or other container designed for use or used for carriage on a vehicle, | ||
(d) a trailer designed for use or used with a vehicle. |