18.— (1) In this section—

“competent person” means a person employed by a public authority and includes an immigration officer who is deemed to have been appointed as such an officer under section 3 of the Immigration Act 2004;

“public authority” means—

(a) a Minister of the Government,

(b) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,

(c) a local authority within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001,

(d) the Health Service Executive,

(e) a harbour authority within the meaning of the Harbours Act 1946,

(f) a board or other body (not being a company) established by or under statute,

(g) a company in which all the shares are held by, or on behalf of, or by directors appointed by, a Minister of the Government, or

(h) a company in which all the shares are held by a board or other body referred to in paragraph (f) , or by a company referred to in paragraph (g) .

(2) A person who makes a statement to a competent person in the course of the performance of the competent person’s official duties may make a statutory declaration that the statement is true to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief.

(3) For the purposes of section 1(1)(d) of the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 a competent person may take and receive a statutory declaration made under subsection (2) .