Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act, 1998

Possession of articles for purposes connected with certain offences.

7.—(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he or she has any article in his or her possession or under his or her control in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the article is in his or her possession or under his or her control for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an offence under the Explosive Substances Act, 1883, or the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1990, which is for the time being a scheduled offence for the purposes of Part V of the Act of 1939.

(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that at the time of the alleged offence the article in question was not in his or her possession or under his or her control for any purpose specified in subsection (1).

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

(4) The reference in subsection (1) to an offence under an enactment referred to therein shall be deemed to include a reference to an act or omission done or made outside the State that would be an offence under such an enactment if done or made in the State.