24.—(1) For the purpose of enforcing this Act and regulations made thereunder, a member of the Garda Síochána or a person authorised in F39[writing in that behalf by the Minister or the Irish Medicines Board] may at all reasonable times—

(a) enter any building or other premises in which a person carries on business as a producer, manufacturer, seller or distributor of controlled drugs F40[or as a practitioner],

(b) require any such person, or any person employed in connection with such a business, to produce any controlled drugs which are in his possession or under his control,

(c) require any such person, or any person so employed, to produce any books, records or other documents F41[(including those containing any data that constitutes personal data)] which relate to transactions concerning controlled drugs and which are in his possession or under his control, and

(d) inspect any controlled drug, book, record or other document produced in pursuance of a requirement under this section.

F42[(2) For the purposes of enforcing this Act and any statutory instruments made thereunder, and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, a person authorised in writing in that behalf by the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland may at all reasonable times—

(a) enter any building or premises in which a person keeps open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions,

(b) require any such person, or any person employed in connection with keeping such open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions, to produce any controlled drugs which are in his possession or under his control,

(c) require any such person, or any person so employed, to produce any books, records or other documents F41[(including those containing any data that constitutes personal data)] which relate to transactions concerning controlled drugs and which are in his possession or under his control, and

(d) inspect any controlled drug, book, record or other document produced in pursuance of a requirement under this section.

(3) Where the Minister or the Irish Medicines Board authorises a person under subsection (1) of this section, then the Minister or the Irish Medicines Board, as the case may be, shall furnish the person with a warrant of his authorisation.

(4) Where the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland authorises a person under subsection (2) of this section, then it shall furnish the person with a warrant of his authorisation.

(5) Where—

(a) a person has been authorised by the Minister under subsection (1) of this section at any time before the commencement of this subsection,

(b) the authorisation is still in force immediately before that commencement, and

(c) either—

(i) the person has, before that commencement, been issued with a certificate of his authorisation, or

(ii) the person has not, before that commencement, been issued with a certificate of his authorisation,

then the Minister shall—

(d) in a case falling within paragraph (c)(i) of this subsection, furnish the person with a warrant of his authorisation upon the surrender of his certificate of authorisation,

(e) in a case falling within paragraph (c)(ii) of this subsection, as soon as reasonably practicable after that commencement, furnish the person with a warrant of his authorisation.

(6) Where a person authorised under subsection (1) or (2) of this section—

(a) claims to exercise a power by virtue of that authorisation, and

(b) is required by a person in relation to whom the power is proposed to be exercised, to produce evidence of that authorisation,

then the person so authorised shall not exercise that power until he has produced the warrant of authorisation furnished under this section to the person in relation to whom the power is proposed to be exercised.

(7) A certificate of authorisation referred to in subsection (5)(c)(i) of this section which has not been surrendered as referred to in subsection (5)(d) of this section shall be deemed to be a warrant of authorisation furnished under this section to the person to whom the certificate of authorisation was furnished, and subsection (6) of this section shall be construed accordingly.]

F43[(8) In this section—

"Data Protection Regulation" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016¹³ on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

"personal data" means personal data within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Data Protection Act 2018.]