15C.— (1) A person shall be guilty of an offence where—

(a) the person, other than in accordance with regulations made under section 4 of this Act, conveys a controlled drug into a prison, children detention school or remand centre or to a person in the prison, school or centre,

(b) the person, other than in accordance with regulations made under section 4 of this Act, places a controlled drug in any place inside or outside a prison, children detention school or remand centre with intent that it shall come into the possession of a person in the prison, school or centre,

(c) the person throws or projects a controlled drug into a prison, children detention school or remand centre, or

(d) the person, while in the vicinity of a prison, children detention school or remand centre, has in his or her possession a controlled drug with intent to commit an act referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection.

(2) A person may be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section irrespective of the quantity of the controlled drug concerned.

(3) Subject to section 29(3) of this Act, in any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1)(d) of this section, where—

(a) it is proved that a person was in possession of a controlled drug in the vicinity of a prison, children detention school or remand centre, as the case may be, and

(b) the court (or the jury, as the case may be), having regard to all the circumstances including the person’s proximity to the prison, school or centre, as the case may be, the packaging (if any) of the controlled drug and the time of the day or night concerned, is satisfied that it is reasonable to assume that the controlled drug was not intended for his or her immediate personal use,

he or she shall be presumed, until the court (or the jury, as the case may be) is satisfied to the contrary, to have been in possession of the controlled drug with intent to commit an act referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) or, as the case may be, (c) of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove that the controlled drug concerned was intended to come into the possession of any particular person in the prison, children detention school or remand centre, as the case may be.

(5) If a prison officer or an authorised member of the staff of a children detention school or remand centre reasonably suspects that a person has committed or is committing an offence under this section, he or she may, for the purpose of detecting the commission of such an offence, search the person at any time while he or she is in the prison, school or centre, as the case may be.

(6) A prison officer or an authorised member of the staff of a children detention school or remand centre may, for the purpose of performing his or her functions under subsection (5) of this section, have a controlled drug in his or her possession.

(7) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

(8) In this section—

"an authorised member of the staff" —

(a) in relation to a children detention school, means a member of the staff of the school who is authorised in writing for the purposes of this section by the Director (within the meaning of section 157 of the Children Act 2001) of the school, and

(b) in relation to a remand centre, means a member of the staff of the centre who is authorised in writing for the purposes of this section by the owners or, as the case may be, the managers of the centre;

"children detention school" and "remand centre" have the meanings they have in section 3(1) of the Children Act 2001;

"prison" means a place of custody administered by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and includes Saint Patrick’s Institution and a place of detention provided under section 2 of the Prisons Act 1970, and "prison officer", in relation to a prison, shall be construed accordingly.]