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Power to summon witnesses, etc.
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46.— (1) For the purposes of any proceedings before it under this Act, the Authority may—
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(a) summon witnesses to attend before it,
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(b) examine on oath the witnesses attending before it, or
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(c) require any such witness to produce to the Authority any document in the power or control of the witness.
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(2) A witness before the Authority is entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he or she were a witness before the High Court.
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(3) A person shall not—
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(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Authority, make default in attending, or
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(b) being in attendance as a witness, refuse to—
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(i) take an oath legally required by the Authority to be taken,
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(ii) produce any document in the witness’s power or control legally required by the Authority to be produced by the witness, or
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(iii) answer any question to which the Authority may legally require an answer.
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(4) Where a witness (other than an applicant for an adoption order or for the recognition of an intercountry adoption effected outside the State) attends before the Authority in pursuance of a summons issued on the initiative of the Authority, the Authority, if it thinks fit, may pay to the witness a sum—
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(a) for expenses incurred by the witness in connection with the attendance, and
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(b) in accordance with a scale prescribed by the Minister, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance.
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