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26 2005

Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

Chapter 4

Offences, Miscellaneous Control Provisions and Proceedings

False statements and offences, including offences relating to bodies corporate.

[1993 s213(1)]

251. —(1) Where, for the purpose of—

(a) obtaining or establishing entitlement to payment of any benefit for himself or herself or for any other person, or

(b) obtaining or establishing entitlement to payment of any benefit for himself or herself or for any other person which is in excess of that to which he or she was entitled, or

(c) avoiding the making by himself or herself or any other person of any repayment under this Act,

or for any other purpose connected with this Act, any person—

(i) knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his or her knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(ii) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he or she knows to be false in a material particular,

he or she is guilty of an offence.

[1993 s213(2)]

(2) An employer or any servant or agent of an employer who aids, abets, counsels or procures an employee in the employment of that employer to commit any offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

[1993 s213(3)]

(3) A person convicted of an offence under this section in relation to child benefit shall be disqualified for the receipt of child benefit for 3 months immediately following the date of the conviction.

[1993 s213(4)]

(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) and by reason of that offence any benefit (other than child benefit) was received by the person’s employee which he or she was not entitled to receive, that person shall be liable to pay to the Minister on demand a sum not exceeding the amount of that benefit which by reason of that offence was paid to that employee while in his or her employment and that sum, if not so repaid, may be recovered by the Minister as a debt under statute in any court of competent jurisdiction.

[1993 s213(5)]

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4) or any other provisions of this Act under which amounts of benefit (other than child benefit) may be recovered, the amount recovered by the Minister in any case may not exceed the amount of benefit received by the employee which he or she was not entitled to receive.

[1993 s213(6)]

(6) Regulations under this Act may provide for offences consisting of contraventions of or failures to comply with those regulations and, where those offences are provided for, a person guilty of any such offence is liable on summary conviction to the penalties provided for in section 257 (a).

[1993 s213(7)]

(7) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and, in the case of an offence under subsection (1), where the offence is committed by an employee or officer of the body corporate, and is proved to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of or to have been attributable to any wilful neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or any other officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

[1993 s213(8)]

(8) It shall be a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (7) for a person to show that the offence was committed without his or her knowledge and that the person exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he or she ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of his or her position as director, manager, secretary or other officer and to all the circumstances.

[1993 s213(9)]

(9) Any summons or other document required to be served for the purpose of proceedings under this Act on a body corporate may be served—

(a) by leaving it at or sending it by post to the registered office of the body corporate,

(b) by leaving it at or sending it by post to any place in the State at which the body corporate conducts business, or

(c) by sending it by post to any person who is a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or is purporting to act in any such capacity, at the place where that person resides.

[1993 s213(10)]

(10) Where a person is in receipt of assistance or has made a claim for assistance which has not been finally determined, and his or her means have increased since the date of latest investigation of those means, or, where no such investigation has taken place, since the date of making the claim, the person shall, within the period that may be prescribed, give or cause to be given to the Minister written notification of the increase.

[1993 s213(11)]

(11) A person who fails or neglects to comply with subsection (10) is guilty of an offence.

Offences in relation to employment contributions.

[1993 s214(1); 1994 s7 & Sch C]

252. —(1) An employer who—

(a) fails to pay at or within a prescribed time any employment contribution which he or she is liable to pay under Part 2,

(b) deducts or attempts to deduct the whole or any part of any employer’s contribution in respect of a person from that person’s remuneration,

(c) makes a deduction from the remuneration of a person in respect of any employment contribution which the employer is liable under Part 2 to pay and fails to pay at or within a prescribed time the employment contribution in respect of which the deduction was made,

(d) adjusts the method of payment of reckonable earnings to an employed contributor who was employed in consecutive weeks in order to ensure that the employed contributor is exempted in any week from the employment contribution payable under section 13 (2)(b) and regulations made under section 13 (10), or

(e) adjusts the amount of payment of reckonable earnings to an employed contributor in order to avoid payment of contributions at the rate specified in section 13 (2)(d)(ii),

is guilty of an offence.

[1993 s214(2)]

(2) An employer, or a servant or agent acting on behalf of the employer, who, for the purpose of evading or reducing the amount of his or her liability in respect of employment contributions which the employer is liable to pay under Part 2 and which he or she has not paid—

(a) knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his or her knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(b) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he or she knows to be false in a material particular,

is guilty of an offence.

[1993 s214(3)]

(3) Where records are required to be kept by employers under regulations made under section 17 (5) in so far as they relate to the recording of payment of earnings and the periods to which those earnings refer the records shall be recorded at or before the time of payment of those earnings.

[1993 s214(4)]

(4) A person who fails to comply with subsection (3) is guilty of an offence.

[1993 s214(5)]

(5) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section (other than an offence under subsection (1)(d)) is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to the penalties provided in section 257 (a), or

[2005 (SW&P) s26 & Sch 4]

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €13,000 or the amount that is equivalent to twice the amount so unpaid or deducted, whichever is the greater, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or to both.

[1993 s214(6); 2005 (SW&P) s26 & Sch 4]

(6) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(d) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €13,000.

[1993 s214(7)]

(7) (a) Where an employer has been convicted under this section of the offence of failing to pay any employment contributions which he or she is liable under Part 2 to pay, he or she is liable to pay to the Social Insurance Fund a sum equal to the amount which he or she has failed to pay and, on such conviction, if notice of the intention to do so has been served with the summons or warrant, evidence may be given of the failure on the part of the employer to pay other employment contributions in respect of the same person during the 3 years before the date when the notice was so served, and on proof of that failure the court may order the employer to pay to the Social Insurance Fund a sum equal to the total of all the employment contributions which he or she is so proved to have failed to pay, and the employer's right of appeal against the conviction under the section shall include a right to appeal against that order.

(b) Any sum paid by an employer under this subsection shall be treated as a payment in satisfaction of the unpaid employment contributions, and the insured person’s portion of those employment contributions shall not be recoverable by the employer from the insured person.

[1993 s214(8)]

(8) Nothing in this section or in regulations under this section shall be read as preventing the Minister from recovering by means of civil proceedings any sums due to the Social Insurance Fund.

Notification by employer or other person of commencement of employment.

[1993 s215(1)]

253. —(1) The Minister may require—

(a) an employer or any other person to notify the Minister of the date of the commencement of the employment of—

(i) any person in his or her employment,

(ii) any person engaged by him or her under a contract for service to perform a service,

or

(b) a person engaged under a contract for service to perform a service to notify the Minister of the date on which any person was engaged to perform that service either with him or her or on his or her behalf whether under a contract for service or under any other arrangements made or to be made by him or her.

[1993 s215(2)]

(2) The circumstances in which notification may be required under subsection (1) and the manner of that notification shall be prescribed in regulations.

[1993 s215(3)]

(3) A person who fails to comply with this section or regulations made under this section is guilty of an offence.

Records to be maintained.

[1993 (No.2) s14]

254. —(1) For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may by regulations require—

(a) an employer or any other person to maintain the records that may be prescribed of any person in his or her employment and of any person engaged by him or her under a contract for service to perform a service, or

(b) a person engaged under a contract for service to perform a service to maintain the records that may be prescribed of any person engaged to perform that service either with him or her or on his or her behalf whether under a contract for service or under any other arrangements made or to be made by him or her.

[1993 (No.2) s14]

(2) Records required to be maintained under subsection (1) shall be held at the place and for the period that may be prescribed.

[1993 (No.2) s14]

(3) A person who fails to comply with this section is guilty of an offence.

Information to be given by employers to Minister.

[1993 s216(1)]

255. —(1) An employer shall give to the Minister in writing in respect of any person who is or was in his or her employment such particulars, including particulars as to periods of employment, as are required by the Minister to enable determination or review of a claim to any benefit by or in respect of that person.

[1993 s216(2)]

(2) Regulations may specify the particulars which an employer shall give under subsection (1) and prescribe the manner in which those particulars shall be so given.

[1993 s216(3)]

(3) A person who fails to comply with this section or regulations made under subsection (2) is guilty of an offence.

Application of Probation of Offenders Act 1907.

[1993 s217]

256. —Where—

(a)   (i) the employer of an employed contributor is charged with an offence in relation to payment of employment contributions in respect of that contributor, or

(ii) a person is charged under this Act with an offence in relation to the receipt of any benefit,

and

(b) the court proposes to make an order under section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907,

the court shall not make the order until it is satisfied that all arrears in respect of those contributions have been paid by the employer or any amounts due to be repaid in respect of that benefit have been repaid.

Penalties.

[1993 s218; 2005 (SW&P) s26 & Sch 4]

257. —Except where otherwise provided for, a person guilty of an offence under this Act is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €13,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or to both.

Failure to keep records.

[1993 s219(1); 1994 s29]

258. —(1) Where—

(a) an employer has failed to keep records under regulations made under section 17 (5) or 254 or has failed to make a notification under regulations made under section 253 , or

(b) any other person who engages a person (referred to in this section as a “contracted person”) under a contract for service to perform a service, has failed to keep records under regulations made under section 254 or has failed to make a notification under regulations made under section 253 ,

and an employee or a contracted person (as the case may be) receives payment, due wholly or partly by reason of that failure, of benefit which he or she was not entitled to receive in respect of any day on which he or she was in the employment of that employer or engaged under a contract for service by the other person, the employer or other person (as the case may be) shall be liable to pay to the Minister on demand a sum not exceeding the amount of benefit which was paid to the employee or contracted person (as the case may be) and that sum, where not repaid by the employee or contracted person (as the case may be), may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

[1993 s219(2); 1994 s29]

(2) It shall be presumed until the contrary is shown that any payment referred to in subsection (1) was made wholly or partly by reason of the failure of the employer or other person who engages a person under a contract for service to keep the records or to make the notification referred to in that subsection.

[1993 s219(3); 1994 s29]

(3) Where there is a material difference between any document issued by or on behalf of an employer or other person who engages a person under a contract for service, to an employee or contracted person (as the case may be) and any other document given to the Minister or to the Collector-General and the employee or contracted person (as the case may be) wholly or partly as a result of that difference, receives benefit to which he or she was not entitled, the employer or other person (as the case may be) shall be liable to pay to the Minister on demand a sum not exceeding the amount of benefit which was paid to the employee or contracted person (as the case may be) and that sum, where not repaid by the employee or contracted person (as the case may be), may be recovered by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

[1993 s219(4); 1994 s29]

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) an employee or contracted person (as the case may be) shall include the employee’s or contracted person’s spouse and any other member of the employee’s or contracted person’s household (as the case may be) whose entitlement to benefit is regulated or adjusted by the income of the employee or contracted person (as the case may be).

[1993 s219(5); 1994 s29]

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1) or (3) or any other provisions of this Act under which amounts of benefit may be recovered, the amount recovered by the Minister in any case may not exceed the amount of benefit received by the employee or contracted person (as the case may be) which he or she was not entitled to receive.

Loss of benefit due to employer's default.

[1993 s220(1)]

259. —(1) Where an employer has failed or neglected—

(a) to pay any employment contribution which under Part 2 he or she is liable to pay in respect of an employed contributor in his or her employment, or

(b) to comply, in relation to any such employed contributor, with any requirement of Part 2 or regulations which relate to the payment or collection of employment contributions,

and by reason thereof the employed contributor or any other person has lost, in whole or in part, any benefit to which he or she would have been entitled, the contributor or other person shall be entitled to recover from the employer as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction a sum equal to the amount of the benefit so lost.

[1993 s220(2)]

(2) Where an employed contributor or other person has lost benefit in a case referred to in subsection (1) and has not taken proceedings under that subsection, the Minister may, in the name of and on behalf of the contributor or other person, recover from the employer as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction a sum equal to the amount of the benefit lost.

[1993 s220(3)]

(3) Where, by virtue of regulations made under section 17

(a) employment contributions which have not been paid have been treated as paid, or

(b) employment contributions which have been paid late have been treated as paid on the due dates,

and by reason thereof benefit which would otherwise have been lost was paid, there shall be due to the Social Insurance Fund by the employer the amount of the benefit which would have been so lost.

[1993 s220(4)]

(4) Proceedings may be taken under this section notwithstanding that proceedings have been taken under any other provision of Part 2 or this Part in respect of the same failure or neglect.

[1993 s220(5)]

(5) In ascertaining, for the purposes of this section, the amount of benefit lost by an employed contributor or other person by reason of a failure or neglect referred to in subsection (1), account shall not be taken of any assistance paid to the contributor or other person during a period when he or she was losing benefit by reason of that failure or neglect.

[1993 s220(6)]

(6) The amount of assistance paid to an employed contributor or other person during a period when he or she was losing benefit by reason of a failure or neglect referred to in subsection (1) may be recovered by the Minister—

(a) in case the full amount of the benefit which was lost has been recovered by the contributor or other person, from that contributor or other person—

(i) by deduction from any benefit or assistance to which the contributor or other person may be or become entitled, or

(ii) as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction,

or

(b) in any other case, from the employer guilty of the failure or neglect as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction,

and, where the amount of the assistance is recovered by the Minister from the employer, the sum recoverable by the contributor or other person from the employer under this section shall be reduced by the amount of that assistance.

[1993 s220(7)]

(7) Any sums recovered by the Minister under subsection (6) shall be paid into the Exchequer.

[1993 s220(8)]

(8) In this section “benefit” means benefit under Part 2.

Information required by Minister.

[1993 s221; 1998 s22]

260. —(1) For the purposes of controlling and investigating entitlement to any benefit, under this Act or under schemes administered by or on behalf of the Minister, the Minister may require the persons that may be prescribed to provide the Minister with the information in relation to those persons or classes of persons that may be prescribed.

[1998 s22; 2005 (SW&P) s26 & Sch 4]

(2) A person who fails to comply with a requirement made of him or her under subsection (1) or regulations made under that subsection is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €2,000.

Exchange of information.

[1993 s222(1)]

261. —(1) Information held by the Minister for the purposes of this Act (including the purpose of collection by the Revenue Commissioners of employment and self-employment contributions) may be transferred by the Minister to the Revenue Commissioners, and information held by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this Act or the Income Tax Acts, relating to employers, the reckonable earnings of employed contributors or reckonable income or reckonable emoluments of self-employed contributors or of any payments made under this Act, may be transferred by the Revenue Commissioners to the Minister.

[1993 s222(2)]

(2) Information held by the Minister for the purposes of this Act or the control of schemes administered by or on behalf of the Minister or the Department of Social and Family Affairs may be transferred by the Minister to another Minister of the Government or a specified body, and information held by another Minister of the Government or a specified body which is required for those purposes or the control of any such scheme administered by another Minister of the Government or a specified body may be transferred by that Minister of the Government or the specified body to the Minister.

[1993 s222(3); 2005 (SW&P) s23 & Sch 1]

(3) In subsection (2) “specified body” means a local authority, the Executive, the Garda Síochána or any other body established—

(a) by or under any enactment (other than the Companies Acts 1963 to 2005), or

(b) under the Companies Acts 1963 to 2005, in pursuance of powers conferred by or under any other enactment,

and financed wholly or partly by means of moneys provided or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government and a subsidiary of any such body.

Personal public service number.

[1993 s223(1); 2005 (SW&P) s26 & Sch 4]

262. —(1) Subject to this section, in this section and sections 263 to 270

“personal public service number” means a number allocated and issued in accordance with subsection (2);

“primary account number”, in relation to a public service card or a card issued under section 264 , means a number consisting of—

(a) an issuer number, issued under licence from the International Standards Organisation,

(b) a personal public service number, and

(c) a card number allocated, in the case of a public service card, by the Minister or, in any other case, by the person who issued the card;

“public service identity”, in relation to a person, means the information specified in subsection (3) and the person’s personal public service number;

“specified body” shall be read in accordance with Schedule 5;

“spouse” means—

(a) each of a married couple, or

(b) a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as husband and wife;

“transaction” means—

(a) an application,

(b) a claim,

(c) a communication,

(d) a payment, or

(e) a supply of a service,

relating to a public function of a specified body which relates to a natural person.

[1993 s223(2); 2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(2) The Minister may allocate and issue a personal public service number to each person who is the subject of any transaction with a specified body.

[1993 s223(3); 2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(3) (a) For the purposes of allocating and issuing a personal public service number, a person or, in the case of a deceased person, a personal representative, who has any transaction with a specified body shall give to the Minister the following information in relation to the person or the deceased person, as the case may be:

(i) surname;

(ii) forename;

(iii) date of birth;

(iv) place of birth;

(v) sex;

(vi) all former surnames (if any);

(vii) all former surnames (if any) of his or her mother;

(viii) address;

(ix) nationality;

(x) date of death;

(xi) any other information that may be prescribed which, in the opinion of the Minister, is relevant to and necessary for the allocation of a personal public service number.

(b) Where a person who has a transaction with a specified body is under the age of 18 years, the following information in relation to the person shall be given to the Minister—

(i) the information specified in paragraph (a),

and

(ii) the public service identity of his or her mother and father.

[1993 s223(4); 2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(4) A person shall give to a specified body his or her personal public service number and the personal public service numbers of his or her spouse and children, where relevant, as required by the body for the purposes of the person’s transaction.

[2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(5) Where a specified body collects from a person any of the information specified in subsection (3), that information shall also be collected for the purpose of maintaining the person’s public service identity.

[2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(6) (a) Where a specified body has a transaction with a person, the Minister may share the person’s public service identity with the specified body to the extent necessary for authentication by the specified body of the person’s public service identity.

(b) A specified body may use a person’s public service identity in performing its public functions insofar as those functions relate to the person concerned.

[2002 (MP) s12(1) (b)]

(7) Where an tArd-Chláraitheoir collects information relating to the registration of the birth of a person, the information shall also be collected for the purpose of allocating the person’s personal public service number.

[2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(8) In this section a reference to a personal public service number shall be read as including a reference to a number known as a revenue and social insurance number.

[2002 (MP) s12(1)(b)]

(9) A person, other than—

(a) the person to whom the personal public service number concerned refers,

(b) a specified body,

(c) a person who has a transaction with a specified body where the personal public service number is relevant to the transaction between the person and the specified body, or

(d) a person who is required to comply with section 260 or 261 or regulations made under those sections,

who uses a personal public service number or seeks to have a personal public service number disclosed to him or her is guilty of an offence.

Public service card.

[1998 s14(1)]

263. —(1) The Minister may issue a card (in this Act referred to as a “public service card”) to a person in the format that the Minister deems fit, with—

(a) the person’s name, personal public service number, primary account number and date of issue inscribed, and

(b) the person’s date of birth, gender, primary account number, expiry date of card and card service code electronically encoded,

on the card and with any other information that may be prescribed either inscribed or electronically encoded on the card.

[1998 s14(1)]

(2) A person may, on request in that behalf to the Minister, obtain within 28 days of that request, where practicable, information which is electronically encoded on his or her public service card.

[1998 s14(1)]

(3) A person shall produce his or her public service card at the request of a specified body for the purposes of a transaction.

[1998 s14(1)]

(4) A person who uses or attempts to use a public service card or seeks to have a public service card produced to him or her, other than—

(a) the person who is the holder of the card or a person appointed to act on behalf of the cardholder,

(b) a specified body, for the purposes of a transaction, or

(c) a person who has a transaction with a specified body where the personal public service number on the card is relevant to the transaction between that person and the specified body,

is guilty of an offence.

Payment card.

[1998 s14(1)]

264. —(1) The Minister may permit any information, that may be prescribed, to be either inscribed or electronically encoded onto a card, which is capable of being so inscribed or encoded, other than a public service card for the purpose of payment of benefit.

[1998 s14(1)]

(2) A person may, on request in that behalf to the Minister, obtain within 28 days of that request, where practicable, information which is inscribed or electronically encoded on the card to which subsection (1) applies and which relates to the person.

[1998 s14(1)]

(3) A person who uses or attempts to use a card to which subsection (1) applies, who is not the holder of the card or a person appointed to act on behalf of the cardholder, for the purposes of obtaining payment of benefit is guilty of an offence.

Sharing of information.

[1998 s14(1); 2000 s32(1)(b)]

265. —(1) In this section—

“data controller” and “personal data” have the meanings given to them by section 1 of the Data Protection Act 1988 ;

“information” means any personal data or information extracted from that data, whether collected before or after 5 February 1999;

“relevant purpose” means—

(a) for the purposes of determining entitlement to or control of—

(i) benefit,

(ii) a service provided by or under sections 45, 58, 59 and 61 of the Health Act 1970 or regulations made thereunder,

(iii) a payment under section 44(3) of the Health Act 1947 ,

(iv) an allowance under the Blind Persons Act 1920,

(v) a grant awarded in accordance with regulations made under section 2 (as amended by section 3 of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act 1992 ) of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act 1968 , or

(vi) legal aid awarded under the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 ,

or

(b) for the purposes of—

(i) making an assessment in accordance with section 9 of the Housing Act 1988 ,

(ii) a letting in accordance with section 11 of the Housing Act 1988 ,

(iii) the determining of rent or other payment in accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 ,

or the control thereof.

[1998 s14(1)]

(2) A specified body holding information may share that information with another specified body who has a transaction with a natural person relating to a relevant purpose, where the specified body seeking the information provides the personal public service number of the person who is the subject of the transaction and satisfies the data controller of the specified body holding the information that the information requested is relevant to the transaction for that purpose between the person and the specified body seeking the information.

[1998 s14(1)]

(3) A specified body may only seek information for the purposes of a transaction relating to a relevant purpose.

[1998 s14(1)]

(4) Where information shared between one specified body and another is found to be inaccurate, the specified body on making the discovery shall confirm with the person the correct information and advise the other specified body of the amended information.

[1998 s14(1); 2000 s32(1)(d)]

(5) A person who knowingly seeks or transfers any information held by a specified body relating to another by using that other’s personal public service number, other than where the seeking or transferring of information is provided for under this Act or any other enactment, is guilty of an offence.

Data exchange— provision of education.

[2000 s32(1); 2003 (MP) s10(c)]

266. —Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, a specified body may share any information that may be prescribed with—

(a) the Minister for Education and Science, where that Minister requires the information for the purpose of enabling him or her to provide education in accordance with section 6(b) of the Education Act 1998 , or

(b) an tÚdáras um Ard-Oideachas, where that body requires the information for the purpose of performing its functions under section 3(a), (b) or (d) of the Higher Education Authority Act 1971 .

Data exchange — sharing of personal public service number.

[2000 s32(1)]

267. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, a specified body may share any information, that may be prescribed, with the Minister for the purpose of seeking from the Minister the personal public service number for each person in respect of whom the information is shared.

[2000 s32(1)]

(2) Information received by the Minister under subsection (1) may be used by the Minister for the purpose of identifying the personal public service number for each person in respect of whom such information is received and for updating the Minister’s own records in respect of that person.

[2000 s32(1)]

(3) Where a specified body has sought a personal public service number under subsection (1) in respect of a person, the Minister may share any information, that may be prescribed, in respect of that person with that specified body for the purpose of giving that specified body the personal public service number relating to the person.

Data exchange — health provisions.

[2000 s32(1)]

268. —Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, a specified body may share with another specified body information relating to a person using that person’s personal public service number, where that information, other than the personal public service number, is being shared in accordance with the Health (Provision of Information) Act 1997 .

Data exchange — rented accommodation.

[2000 s32(1)]

269. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, the Minister may share any information, that may be prescribed, in relation to—

(a) a house let for rent,

(b) a landlord of a house let for rent or his or her agent, or

(c) a tenant of a house let for rent,

with a local authority for the purposes of—

(i) assisting a fire authority, within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981 , in the exercise of its functions under that Act, or

(ii) assisting a housing authority, within the meaning of section 23 (as amended by section 16 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 ) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 , in the exercise of its functions under sections 17, 18 and 20 of that Act,

in relation to that house let for rent, the landlord of a house let for rent or his or her agent or the tenant of a house let for rent.

[2000 s32(1)]

(2) Information received by a local authority under subsection (1) may be used by that local authority for the purposes specified in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of that subsection.

[2000 s32(1)]

(3) In this section “house” has the meaning given to it by section 1 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 .

Data exchange — correction of inaccurate information.

[2000 s32(1)]

270. —Where the information shared between one specified body and another under section 266 , 267, 268 or 269 is found to be inaccurate, the specified body on making the discovery shall confirm with the person the correct information and advise the other specified body of the amended information.

Definition of information.

[2000 s32(1)]

271. —(1) In sections 266 to 270 “information” means any personal data or information extracted from that data.

[2000 s32(2)]

(2) Sections 266 to 271 apply to information used for the purposes of section 266 , 267, 268 or 269 whether collected before or after 31 July 2000.

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.

[1993 s224(2); 1999 s28(1)]

(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.

[1993 s224(3); 2005 (SW&P) s17]

(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.

[1993 s224(4)]

(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.

[1993 s224(5)]

(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.

[1993 s224(6)]

(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.

[1993 s224(7); 2001 s25(1)]

(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.

[1993 s224(7)]

(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 .

Civil proceedings — Criminal Assets Bureau.

[1999 s28(2)]

273. —Any proceedings, other than for the prosecution of an offence, arising out of the exercise by an officer of the Minister who is a bureau officer, of his or her powers or duties under this Act may be brought by or against the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Evidence.

[1993 s225(1)]

274. —(1) In this section—

“copy record” means any copy of an original record being a record made for the purposes of or in connection with this Act or schemes administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs or a copy of that copy made in accordance with either of the methods referred to in subsection (2) and accompanied by the certificate referred to in subsection (3);

“original record” means any document, record, or record of an entry in a document or record or information stored by means of any mechanical or electronic device, whether or not in a legible form, which was made or stored by the Minister or a specified agency for the purposes of or in connection with this Act or schemes administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs at the time of or shortly after the event recorded and which is in the possession of the Minister or a specified agency;

“provable record” means an original record or a copy record;

“specified agency” means An Post or a person authorised to carry on banking business under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971 .

[1993 s225(2)]

(2) The Minister or a specified agency may, where by reason of the deterioration of, or inconvenience in storing, or technical obsolescence in the manner of keeping any original record or any copy record, make a legible copy of the record or store information concerning that record otherwise than in a legible form so that the information is capable of being used to make a legible copy of the record, and the Minister or the specified agency may thereupon destroy the original record or the copy record provided that any authorisation required by the National Archives Act 1986 for such destruction has been granted.

[1993 s225(3)]

(3) In any proceedings a certificate signed by an officer of the Minister or a specified agency, as the case may be, stating that a copy record has been made in accordance with subsection (2) shall be evidence of the fact of the making of the copy record and that it is a true copy, until the contrary is shown.

[1993 s225(4)]

(4) A document purporting to be a certificate under subsection (3) is deemed to be such a certificate without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that the person was a proper person to so sign, until the contrary is shown.

[1993 s225(5)]

(5) In any proceedings any provable record may be given in evidence and shall be prima facie evidence of any fact stated in or event recorded by that record, if the court is satisfied of the reliability of the system used to make or compile, in the case of an original record, that record, and in the case of a copy record, the original on which it was based.

[1993 s225(6)]

(6) Where information contained in a provable record is in a form which would normally not be comprehensible to a person who has no knowledge of that type of information, an explanation of its meaning by a suitably qualified person shall be admissible.

[1993 s225(7)]

(7) In any proceedings a certificate signed by an officer of the Minister or a specified agency, as the case may be, stating that a full and detailed search has been made for a provable record of an event in every place where those records are kept by the Minister or the agency, as the case may be, and that no such record has been found shall be prima facie evidence that the event did not happen, if the court is satisfied—

(a) as to the reliability of the system used to compile or make and keep the records,

(b) that, if the event had happened, a record would have been made of it, and

(c) that the system is such that the only reasonable explanation for the absence of a record is that the event did not happen.

[1993 s225(8)]

(8) This section applies to any original record or to any copy record made before 26 March 1989, in accordance with either of the methods referred to in subsection (2) but the proviso in that subsection shall not have effect in relation to anything deemed to have been done under that subsection before the commencement of section 7 of the National Archives Act 1986 .