21. —F3[(1) A fire authority may appoint in writing such and so many persons to be authorised officers for the purposes of Part 1 or 2 and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing such persons may include a person who is employed by the Health Service Executive.]

(2) Every authorised officer appointed under this section shall be furnished with a certificate of appointment and shall, when exercising any power conferred on him or her by this section, if requested by a person affected, produce the certificate of appointment or a copy of it to that person.

(3) An appointment under this section shall cease where the fire authority concerned revokes the appointment.

(4) An authorised officer may, in addition to the powers specified in section 12 , for the purposes of this Act, do any one or more of the following—

(a) require any person in charge or control of any premises or land or any person employed in, at or on the premises or lands to produce to the authorised officer records and in the case of information in a non-legible form to reproduce it in a legible form or to give to him or her such information as the authorised officer may reasonably require in relation to any entries in such records,

(b) inspect and take copies of or extracts from any such records, files, papers or electronic information system in, at or on the place, including, in the case of information in a non-legible form, copies of or extracts from such information in a permanent legible form,

(c) have photographs taken of any thing in, at or on the place and remove the photographs from the place,

(d) require any person by or on whose behalf data equipment is or has been used or any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the data equipment of any associated apparatus or material, to afford the authorised officer all reasonable assistance in relation to it,

(e) remove and retain the said records for such period as may be reasonable for further examination or until the conclusion of any legal proceedings, subject to a warrant being issued for that purpose by the District Court, and

(f) secure for later inspection any premises or any part of a premises in which books, records or other documents are kept or there are reasonable grounds for believing that such books, records or other documents are kept.