7.— (1) A member of the Garda Síochána, F27[a designated officer of the Ombudsman Commission,] F28[a member of the Defence Forces, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an authorised officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission] may carry out surveillance without an authorisation if the surveillance has been approved by a superior officer in accordance with this section.

(2) A member or officer referred to in subsection (1) may apply to a superior officer for the grant of an approval to carry out surveillance if he or she believes on reasonable grounds that F29[the requirements of subsection (1), F28[(2), (3) or (3A)], as the case may be, of section 4] are fulfilled and that the surveillance is justified having regard to the matters referred to in section 4(5), but that, before an authorisation could be issued—

(a) it is likely that a person would abscond for the purpose of avoiding justice, obstruct the course of justice or commit an F28[arrestable offence, revenue offence or relevant competition offence, as the case may be],

(b) information or evidence in relation to the commission of an F28[arrestable offence, revenue offence or relevant competition offence, as the case may be], is likely to be destroyed, lost or otherwise become unavailable, or

(c) the security of the State would be likely to be compromised.

(3) A superior officer to whom an application under subsection (2) is made shall approve the carrying out of such surveillance as he or she considers appropriate, having regard to the information in the application, if he or she is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that an authorisation would be issued under section 5 but that one or more of the conditions of urgency specified in subsection (2) apply.

(4) An approval may be granted subject to conditions, including as to the duration of the surveillance.

(5) An approval under this section permits the member or officer concerned, accompanied by any other person whom he or she considers necessary, to enter, if necessary by the use of reasonable force, any place for the purposes of initiating or carrying out the approved surveillance, and withdrawing the approved surveillance device, without the consent of a person who owns or is in charge of the place.

(6) A superior officer who approves the carrying out of surveillance under this section shall, as soon as practicable and, in any case, not later than 8 hours after the surveillance has been approved, prepare a written record of approval of that surveillance.

(7) A written record of approval shall be in such form as the relevant Minister may prescribe by regulations and shall include—

(a) particulars of the surveillance device that is approved to be used,

(b) the person who, or the place or thing that, is to be the subject of the surveillance,

(c) the name of the member of the Garda Síochána, F27[designated officer of the Ombudsman Commission,] F28[member of the Defence Forces, officer of the Revenue Commissioners or authorised officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission] to whom the approval is granted,

(d) the conditions (if any) subject to which the approval is granted,

(e) the time at which the approval is granted, and

(f) the duration of the approved surveillance.

(8) The member or officer shall not carry out surveillance under this section for a period of more than 72 hours from the time at which the approval is granted.

(9) The superior officer who approved the carrying out of surveillance may vary that approval, or any condition attached to it, at any time before the expiry of the period of 72 hours.

(10) (a) If the superior officer who approved the carrying out of surveillance believes on reasonable grounds that surveillance beyond the period of 72 hours is warranted, he or she shall, as soon as possible but in any case before the expiry of that period, make an application under section 4(4) for an authorisation to continue the surveillance.

(b) Where an application under section 4(4) has been made and the period referred to in paragraph (a) would, but for this paragraph, expire during the hearing of the application, it shall be deemed not to expire until the determination of the application.

(11) A superior officer who approves the carrying out of surveillance under this section shall make a report as soon as possible and, in any case, not later than 7 days after the surveillance concerned has been completed, specifying the grounds on which the approval was granted, and including a copy of the written record of approval and a summary of the results of the surveillance.

(12) A report under subsection (11) shall be made to—

(a) in the case of a member of the Garda Síochána, a member of the Garda Síochána of the rank of Assistant Commissioner,

F27[(aa) in the case of a designated officer of the Ombudsman Commission, the chairperson of the Ombudsman Commission,

F30[(ab) in the case of an authorised officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, to a member of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission within the meaning of section 12 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014,]]

(b) in the case of an officer of the Defence Forces, a general officer within the meaning of section 2 (as amended by section 2(b) of the Defence (Amendment) Act 1979) of the Defence Act 1954, and

(c) in the case of an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners of the rank of Assistant Secretary.