8.—(1) (a) The Minister may appoint, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, such and so many—

(i) members of the Garda Síochána nominated for the purposes of this Act by the Commissioner,

(ii) officers of the Revenue Commissioners nominated for the purposes of this Act by the Revenue Commissioners, and

(iii) officers of the Minister for Social Welfare nominated for the purposes of this Act by that Minister,

to be bureau officers for the purposes of this Act.

(b) An appointment under this subsection shall be confirmed in writing, at the time of the appointment or as soon as may be thereafter, specifying the date of the appointment.

(2) The powers and duties vested in a bureau officer for the purposes of this Act, shall, F6[subject to subsections (5), (6), (6A), (6B), (6C) and (7)], be the powers and duties vested in the bureau officer, as the case may be, by virtue of—

(a) being a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) the Revenue Acts or, any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue, including any authorisation or nomination made thereunder, or

(c) the Social Welfare Acts, including any appointment made thereunder,

and such exercise or performance of any power or duty for the purposes of this Act shall be exercised or performed in the name of the Bureau.

(3) A bureau officer, when exercising or performing any powers or duties for the purposes of this Act, shall be under the direction and control of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(4) Where in any case a bureau officer (other than the Chief Bureau Officer) who, prior to being appointed a bureau officer, was required to exercise or perform any power or duty on the direction of any other person, it shall be lawful for the bureau officer to exercise or perform such power or duty for the purposes of this Act on the direction of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(5) A bureau officer may exercise or perform his or her powers or duties on foot of any information received by him or her from another bureau officer or on foot of any action taken by that other bureau officer in the exercise or performance of that other bureau officer's powers or duties for the purposes of this Act, and any information, documents or other material obtained by bureau officers under this subsection shall be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

(6) (a) A bureau officer may be accompanied or assisted in the exercise or performance of that bureau officer's powers or duties by such other persons (including bureau officers) as the first-mentioned bureau officer considers necessary.

(b) A bureau officer may take with him or her, to assist him or her in the exercise or performance of his or her powers or duties, any equipment or materials as that bureau officer considers necessary.

(c) A bureau officer who assists another bureau officer under paragraph (a) shall have and be conferred with the powers and duties of the first-mentioned bureau officer for the purposes of that assistance only.

(d) Information, documents or other material obtained by any bureau officer under paragraph (a) or (c) may be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

F7[(6A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (6), a bureau officer who is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs may, if and for so long as he or she is accompanied by a bureau officer who is a member of the Garda Síochána, attend at, and participate in, the questioning of a person detained pursuant to—

(a) section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, or

(b) section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 (including that section as applied by section 4 of that Act),

in connection with the investigation of an offence but only if the second-mentioned bureau officer requests the first-mentioned bureau officer to do so and the second-mentioned bureau officer is satisfied that the attendance at, and participation in, such questioning of the first-mentioned bureau officer is necessary for the proper investigation of the offence concerned.

(6B) A bureau officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance with subsection (6A) may not commit any act or make any omission which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made under section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

(6C) An act committed or omission made by a bureau officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance with subsection (6A) which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made under the said section 7 shall not of itself render the bureau officer liable to any criminal or civil proceedings or of itself affect the lawfulness of the custody of the detained person or the admissibility in evidence of any statement made by him or her. ]

(7) F8[Subject to section 5(1), any information] or material obtained by a bureau officer for the purposes of this Act may only be disclosed by the bureau officer to—

(a) another bureau officer or a member of the staff of the Bureau,

(b) any member of the Garda Síochána for the purposes of Garda functions,

(c) any officer of the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of the Revenue Acts or any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue,

(d) any officer of the Minister for Social Welfare for the purposes of the Social Welfare Acts, or

(e) with the consent of the Chief Bureau Officer, any other officer of another Minister of the Government or of a local authority (within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1941) for the purposes of that other officer exercising or performing his or her powers or duties,

and information, documents or other material obtained by a bureau officer or any other person under the provisions of this subsection shall be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

(8) A member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, who is a bureau officer, notwithstanding his or her appointment as such, shall continue to be vested with and may exercise or perform the powers or duties of a member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, as the case may be, for purposes other than the purposes of this Act, as well as for the purposes of this Act.

(9) The Chief Bureau Officer may, at his or her absolute discretion, at any time, with the consent of the Commissioner, remove any bureau officer from the Bureau whereupon his or her appointment as a bureau officer shall cease.

(10) Nothing in this section shall affect the powers and duties of a member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, who is not a bureau officer.