80.— (1) Summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted—

(a) where a person contravenes section 77 by refusing to allow an authorised person to monitor compliance with standards or conduct an investigation, by the Authority,

(b) in any other case, by the chief inspector.

(2) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be commenced any time within—

(a) 12 months after the date of the offence, or

(b) 6 months after the date on which evidence first comes to the knowledge of the Authority or the chief inspector that is sufficient, in the opinion of the Authority or the chief inspector, to justify the bringing of the proceedings, provided that the proceedings are commenced not later than 2 years after the date of the offence.

(3) A document, purporting to have been issued by the Authority, in the case of a contravention of section 77 described in section 80(1)(a), or by the chief inspector, in any other case, certifying the date on which the evidence described in subsection (2) first came to the knowledge of the Authority or the chief inspector—

(a) is admissible without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the document, and

(b) in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters certified in the document.

(4) Where an offence under this Act—

(a) is committed by a body corporate, by a person purporting to act on behalf of a body corporate or by an individual or an unincorporated body of persons, and

(b) is proved to have been committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person who, when the offence was committed, was—

(i) a director, member of the committee of management or other controlling authority of the body concerned, or

(ii) the manager, secretary or other officer of the body concerned,

that person shall also be deemed to have committed the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.