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31 1987

RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1987

PART III

Amendment to certain other enactments

Amendment of section 2 of Prices Act, 1958.

27. Section 2 of the Prices Act, 1958 , is hereby amended by the insertion after the definition of “authorised officer” of the following definition “‘the Director’ means the holder of the office of Director of Consumer Affairs established by section 9 of the Consumer Information Act, 1978 ; and known as the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade by virtue of section 5 (2) of the Restrictive Practices (Amendment) Act, 1987;”.

Amendment of section 24 of Prices Act, 1958.

28. Section 24 (as amended by the Prices (Amendment) Act, 1965 ) of the Prices Act, 1958 , is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (1) after “the Minister” of “or the Director”, and the subsection, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of obtaining any information which the Minister or the Director may require for enabling him to exercise his functions under this Act, do any one or more of the following things—

(a) at all reasonable times enter premises at which any activity in connection with the business of manufacturing or processing or packaging or supplying or distributing commodities or the business of rendering a service or carrying out work or a process or in connection with the organisation or assistance of persons engaged in any such business is carried on, and inspect the premises,

(b) require the person who carries on such activity and any person employed in connection therewith to produce to him any books, documents or records relating to such activity which are in that person's power or control and to give him such information as he may reasonably require in regard to any entries in such books, documents or records,

(c) inspect and copy or take extracts from such books, documents or records,

(d) require such person to give to him any information he may reasonably require in regard to the persons carrying on such activity (including, in particular, in the case of an unincorporated body of persons, information in regard to the membership thereof and of its committee of management or other controlling authority) or employed in connection therewith,

(e) require such person to give to him any other information which he may reasonably require in regard to such activity.

Amendment of section 28 of Prices Act, 1958.

29. Section 28 of the Prices Act, 1958 , is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (1) after “the Minister” of “or the Director” and the said subsection as so amended is set out in the Table to this section.

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(1) Proceedings in relation to an offence under any section of this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister or the Director.

Amendment of Consumer Information Act, 1978.

30. —The Consumer Information Act, 1978 is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution for subsection (1) of section 13 of the following subsection:

“(1) Where an advertisement in relation to the supply or provision of any goods, services, accommodation or facilities is published and does not include the name and address of the person who procured such publication or his agent, the publisher of the advertisement, shall, if the Director or an officer of the Minister so requests within 12 months of the publication of the advertisement, give to the Director or officer the name and address of such person or his agent.”,

(b) the substitution for section 16 of the following section:

“16. (1) In this section ‘authorised officer’ means a whole-time officer of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister or the Director to exercise, for the purpose of the Acts, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , the enactments and the Regulations specified in the First Schedule to the Restrictive Practices (Amendment) Act, 1987, and this Act, the powers conferred by this section.

(2) Every authorised officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer which shall indicate the enactment or statutory instrument under which he is acting and, when exercising any power conferred on him by subsection (3) of this section shall inform any person affected of the title of the enactment to which the investigation relates and, if requested to do so, produce the warrant to him.

(3) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of obtaining any information which may be required in order to enable the Minister or the Director, as the case may be, to exercise his functions under the Acts, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , the enactments or the Regulations specified in the First Schedule to the Restrictive Practices (Amendment) Act, 1987, and this Act, on production of the authorisation of the officer, if so required—

(a) at all reasonable times enter premises at which any trade or business or any activity in connection with a trade or business is carried on and inspect the premises and any goods on the premises and, on paying or making tender of payment therefor, take any of the goods,

(b) require any person who carries on such trade, business or activity and any person employed in connection therewith to produce to the officer any books, documents or records relating to such trade, business or activity which are in that person's power or control and to give him such information as he may reasonably require in regard to any entries in such books, documents and records,

(c) inspect and copy or take extracts from such books, documents and records,

(d) require any such person to give to the officer any information the officer may require in regard to the persons carrying on such trade, business or activity (including, in particular, in the case of anunincorporated body of persons, information in regard to the membership thereof and of its committee of management or other controlling authority) or employed in connection therewith,

(e) require any such person to give to the officer any other information which the officer may reasonably require in regard to such activity.

(4) A person who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of a power, or does not comply with a requirement, under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.”,

(c) the substitution for section 18 of the following section:

“18. (1) Summary proceedings in relation to an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.

(2) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under the Acts or this Act may be instituted within 18 months from the date of the offence.”,

(d) the amendment of section 19 by the insertion after “offence under” of “the Acts, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , or” and the said section as so amended is set out in the Table to this paragraph.

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19. Where an offence under the Acts, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , or this Act which is committed by a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person (or any person acting on his behalf) being a director, manager, secretary, member of the committee of management or other controlling authority of any such body or being any other similar officer of any such body, that person or the person so acting as the case may be shall also be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Amendment of section 40 of the Act of 1980.

31. —Section 40 of the Act of 1980 is hereby amended by the deletion of paragraph (a) in subsection (5).

Amendment of section 55 of the Act of 1980.

32. —(1) The Act of 1980 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 55:

“55. (1) The Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade shall have the following additional functions—

(a) to keep under general review practices or proposed practices in relation to any of the obligations imposed on persons by any provision of this Act or the Act of 1893,

(b) to carry out examinations of any such practices or proposed practices where the Director considers that, in the public interest, such examinations are proper or the Minister so requests,

(c) to request persons engaging in or proposing to engage in such practices as are, or are likely to be, contraryto the obligations imposed on them by any provision of this Act or the Act of 1893 to discontinue or refrain from such practices,

(d) to institute proceedings in the High Court for orders requiring persons engaging or proposing to engage in any practices as are, or are likely to be, contrary to the obligations imposed on them by any provision of this Act or the Act of 1893, to discontinue or refrain from such practices.

(2) The Minister may by order confer on the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade such further functions as he considers appropriate for the purposes of this Act.”.

Orders under the Consumer Information Act, 1978, or the Act of 1980.

33. —(1) The Consumer Information Act, 1978 , is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 26 of the following paragraph:

“(4) (a) Every order made under section 9 , 10 , 11 or 12 of this Act, or under paragraph (b) of this subsection, shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”.

(2) Section 5 of the Act of 1980 is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Every order made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”.

Amendment of section 31 of Merchandise Marks Act, 1931.

34. Section 31 of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1931 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(4) Nothing in this section shall operate to affect the power of any person (other than the Minister for Agriculture) to prosecute in respect of any offence under the Principal Act or an offence under this Act.”.