Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 171:

In page 116, to delete lines 12 to 14 and substitute the following: “(d) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “An authorised officer, other than where exercising functions in relation to a matter under investigation under relevant competition law, shall not” for “An authorised officer shall not,”, and

(e) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (7):

“(8) Where a member of the Garda Síochána arrests, whether in a Garda Síochána station or elsewhere, a person whom he or she, with reasonable cause, suspects of committing or of having committed an offence under section 6 or 7 of the Competition Act 2002 and the person has been taken to and detained in a Garda Síochána station, or if the person is arrested in a Garda Síochána station, has been detained in the station, pursuant to section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, an authorised officer or officers (but not more than 2 such officers) may, if and for so long as the officer or officers is, or are, accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána, attend at, and participate in, the questioning of a person so detained in connection with the investigation of the offence, but only if the member of the Garda Síochána requests the authorised officer or officers to do so and the member is satisfied that the attendance at, and participation in, such questioning of the authorised officer or officers is necessary for the proper investigation of the offence concerned.

(9) An authorised officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance with subsection (8) may not commit any act or make any omission which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made under section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

(10) An act committed or omission made by an authorised officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance with subsection (9) which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made under section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 shall not of itself render the authorised officer liable to any criminal or civil proceedings or of itself affect the lawfulness of the custody of the detained person or the admissibility in evidence of any statement made by him or her.

(11) Where a person is before a court charged with an offence under section 6 or 7 of the Competition Act 2002, a copy of any recording of the questioning of the person by a member of the Garda Síochána or authorised officer while he or she was detained in a Garda Síochána station, or such questioning elsewhere, in connection with the investigation of the offence shall be given to the person or his or her legal representative only if the court so directs and subject to such conditions (if any) as the court may specify.

(12) A recording referred to in subsection (11) of the questioning of a person shall not be given to the person by the Garda Síochána except in accordance with a direction or order of a court made under that subsection or otherwise.

(13) A court may admit in evidence at the trial of a person in respect of an offence under section 6 or 7 of the Competition Act 2002—

(a) a recording by electronic or similar means, or

(b) a transcript of such a recording,

or both, of the questioning of the person by a member of the Garda Síochána or authorised officer at a Garda Síochána station or elsewhere in connection with the investigation of the offence.

(14) Any statement made by the person concerned that is recorded in a recording which is admitted in evidence under subsection (13) may be admissible in evidence at the trial concerned notwithstanding the fact that—

(a) it was not taken down in writing at the time it was made, or

(b) that statement is not in writing and signed by the person who made it,

or both.

(15) Subsections (13) and (14) shall not affect the admissibility in evidence at the trial of a person in respect of an offence of any statement that is recorded in writing made by the person during questioning by a member of the Garda Síochána or authorised officer at a Garda Síochána station or elsewhere in connection with the investigation of the offence (whether or not that statement is signed by the person) and irrespective of whether the making of that statement is recorded by electronic or similar means.

(16) Section 9 of the Criminal Law Act 1976 shall apply in relation to a search carried out by an authorised officer pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (3) or (3A) as it applies to a search carried out by a member of the Garda Síochána in the course of exercising his or her powers under that Act.

(17) In this section—

‘recording’ means a recording on tape of—

(a) an oral communication, statement or utterance, or

(b) a series of visual images which, when reproduced on tape, appear as a moving picture,

or both;

‘Regulation of 2003’ means Regulation (EC) No. 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty;

‘relevant competition law’ has the meaning it has in the Competition Act 2002.”.”.