9.—(1) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Every authorised officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer and, when exercising any power conferred on an authorised officer by this section shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

(3) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times—

(a) enter and inspect any premises in which the business of an employment agency is being carried on or in respect of which an application under section 3 of this Act has been made,

(b) inspect such books and records relating to the business of an employment agency as are required to be kept under this Act, and, where he has reasonable grounds for believing that this Act is being or has been contravened, take copies of any entries in such books or records,

(c) require any person carrying on the business of an employment agency or proposing to do so to furnish him with such information as he may reasonably require in order to ascertain whether or not the agency is being or is likely to be conducted in accordance with this Act.

(4) A person shall not—

(a) obstruct or impede an authorised officer in the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section;

(b) fail or refuse to give to an authorised officer on demand any information which the officer is entitled to demand under this section, or

(c) give to an authorised officer information which the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular.