Comptroller and Auditor General and Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Special Provisions) Act, 1998
|
Power of Comptroller to obtain evidence. |
3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Comptroller may— | |
(a) direct in writing any person whose evidence is required by the Comptroller to attend before him or her on a date and at a time and place specified in the direction and there to give evidence and to produce any document in his or her possession or power specified in the direction, | ||
(b) direct a person in attendance before the Comptroller pursuant to paragraph (a) to produce to him or her any document in his or her possession or power specified in the direction, | ||
(c) direct in writing any person to send to the Comptroller any document in his or her possession or power specified in the direction, | ||
(d) direct in writing any person to make discovery on oath of any documents that are or have been in that person's possession or power relating to any matter relevant to the functions of the Comptroller under section (2) and to specify in the affidavit of documents concerned any documents mentioned therein which he or she objects to produce to the Comptroller and the grounds for the objection, and the rules of court relating to the discovery of documents in proceedings in the High Court shall apply in relation to the discovery of documents pursuant to this paragraph with any necessary modifications, | ||
(e) for the purpose of the performance of the functions of the Comptroller under section 2 , give any other directions that appear to the Comptroller to be reasonable and just. | ||
(2) Such reasonable expenses as the Minister may determine of a person who, pursuant to a request of the Comptroller or a direction, attends before the Comptroller, shall be paid to him or her out of moneys provided by the Orieachtas. | ||
(3) A direction in writing shall be signed by the Comptroller. | ||
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to— | ||
(a) accounts opened by persons with the institutions aforesaid or any books or other records in any form or documents of such institutions in so far as they relate to such accounts or to deposits held by persons in those institutions, or | ||
(b) evidence relating to the accounts or deposits aforesaid or the books or other records or documents aforesaid insofar as they relate to such accounts or deposits, | ||
but, notwithstanding the foregoing, evidence may be given to the Comptroller in relation to the numbers of, and the total amounts of money held in, the deposits referred to in section 2 (1) and the total amount of interest paid in respect of those deposits. | ||
(5) Where a person disobeys a direction, the High Court may, on application to it in a summary manner in that behalf by the Comptroller, order the person to comply with the direction and make such other (if any) order as it considers necessary and just to enable the direction to have full effect. | ||
(6) A person who— | ||
(a) having been directed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) to attend before the Comptroller and having had tendered to him or her any sum in respect of the expenses of his or her attendance before the Comptroller that a witness summoned to attend before the High Court would be entitled to have tendered to him or her, without just cause or excuse, disobeys the direction, | ||
(b) being in attendance before the Comptroller pursuant to a direction under the said paragraph (a), refuses to take the oath on being required by the Comptroller to do so or refuses to answer any question to which the Comptroller may legally require an answer, | ||
(c) without just cause or excuse, disobeys a direction under paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subsection (1), | ||
(d) in relation to the discovery of documents pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection (1), contravenes a rule of court referred to in that paragraph, or | ||
(e) does any other thing in relation to the matters before the Comptroller which, if done in relation to proceedings before a court by a witness in the court or any other person, would be contempt of that court, | ||
shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(7) If a person gives false evidence before the Comptroller in such circumstances that, if the person had given the evidence before a court, the person would be guilty of perjury, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment thereof to the penalties applying to perjury. |