Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013
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Offences — Chapter 3. |
90.— (1) A person who— | |
(a) having been directed under paragraph (a) of section 83 (1) to attend before a committee and having had tendered to him or her any sum in respect of the expenses of his or her attendance before the committee which a witness summoned to attend before the Court would be entitled to have tendered to him or her, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with the direction, | ||
(b) being in attendance before a committee pursuant to a direction under paragraph (a) of section 83 (1), refuses to take the oath on being required by the committee to do so or refuses to answer any question to which the committee is entitled by law to require an answer, | ||
(c) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a direction under paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of section 83 (1), or | ||
(d) does any other thing in relation to the proceedings of a committee which, if done in relation to proceedings of a court by a witness in the court or any other person, would be contempt of that court, | ||
is guilty of an offence. | ||
(2) If a person gives false evidence before a committee in such circumstances that, if the person had given the evidence before a court, the person would be guilty of perjury, the person is guilty of an offence. | ||
(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) is liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €500,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both. | ||
(4) A person who has had a sanction imposed on him or her by the Court for a failure to comply with an order of the Court under section 99 relating to a particular direction shall not be tried for an offence under subsection (2) in relation to that direction and a person who has been tried for an offence under that subsection in relation to a particular direction shall not be proceeded against for failure to comply with an order of the Court under section 99 relating to that direction. |