56.—(1) Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing, or has committed, a relevant offence, the authorised officer may serve a notice in writing (in this Act referred to as a "fixed payment notice") in the prescribed form stating—

(a) that the person is alleged to have committed the relevant offence concerned,

(b) where and when the person is alleged to have committed the relevant offence concerned,

(c) that the person may, during the period of 28 days beginning on the date of the fixed payment notice, make to the Executive at the address specified in the notice a payment of such amount or amounts as may be prescribed, being an amount of not more than €2,000 accompanied by the notice or copy thereof,

(d) that the person is not obliged to make the payment specified in the notice,

(e) that a prosecution of the person in respect of the alleged relevant offence will not be instituted during the period of 28 days beginning on the date of the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged relevant offence will be instituted, and

(f) that in default of such payment, the person shall be prosecuted for the alleged relevant offence.

(2) Where a fixed payment notice is served under subsection (1)—

(a) the person to whom it applies may make a payment in accordance with subsection (1)(c),

(b) the Executive shall, subject to subsection (5), receive and retain the payment and issue a receipt for the payment,

(c) any payment received by the Executive shall not be recoverable by the person who made it, and

(d) a prosecution in respect of the alleged relevant offence to which the notice relates shall not be instituted during the period specified in subsection (1)(c) and, if payment so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged relevant offence will be instituted.

(3) In proceedings for a relevant offence, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he or she has made a payment in accordance with this section, pursuant to a fixed payment notice served in respect of the offence.

(4) The Minister may prescribe the amount of a fixed payment and may prescribe different amounts for different offences.

(5) Payments received by the Executive under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform may direct.

(6) In this section, "relevant offence" means—

(a) an offence under section 43, or

(b) an offence under section 22, 26, or 29 of the Act of 2023.]