38.— F27[(1) The Bureau shall perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act or the Road Traffic Act, 1994.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Bureau shall, subject to the establishment order and to any regulations under Part III of the Road Traffic Act, 1994, arrange for—

(a) the receipt and analysis of specimens of blood and urine forwarded to the Bureau under Part III of the Road Traffic Act, 1994, and the issue of reports on such analyses,

(b) the determination, in respect of such specimens, of the concentration of alcohol in the blood or urine and of the presence (if any) of a drug or drugs in the blood or urine,

(c) the issue of certificates required under Part III of the Road Traffic Act, 1994, to be issued by the Bureau,

(d) the provision of equipment for the taking of such specimens,

(e) the approval of—

(i) apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol, and

(ii) apparatus for determining the concentration of alcohol,

in the breath.]

(3) Where, in a case to which section 35 (1)(b) applies, the registered owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle concerned does not give or send in accordance with section 35 (6) the information specified in paragraph (b) of that subsection, then—

(a) in a prosecution of that owner for the alleged offence, which is not a penalty point offence, to which the notice under section 35 (1)(b) relates, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that he or she was driving or otherwise using the vehicle at the time of the commission of the alleged offence, or

(b) in a prosecution of that owner or another person for the alleged offence, which is a penalty point offence, to which the notice under section 35 (1)(b) relates, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that—

(i) where the registered owner is an individual, he or she was driving or otherwise using the vehicle, or

(ii) where the registered owner is a body corporate or unincorporated body of persons or has hired out under a hire-drive agreement or leased the vehicle—

(I) the person permitted under an approved policy of insurance or under an agreement, as the case may be, to drive the vehicle was driving or otherwise using the vehicle, or

(II) in the event of being unable to ascertain the identity of that person, the registered owner is deemed to have been driving or otherwise using the vehicle, at the time of the commission of the alleged offence.

(4) The Bureau may, with the consent of the Minister—

F27[(a) arrange for the supply and testing of—

(i) apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol, and

(ii) apparatus for determining the concentration of alcohol,

in the breath,]

(b) render such assistance, whether financial or otherwise, as it thinks proper to persons carrying out or intending to carry out research of a kind which the Bureau is by this Act authorised to carry out.