6.— (1) The Minister, a F6[water services authority, F7[…] Irish Water] or any prescribed person may, for the purposes of discharging his or her or its functions under this Act, by notice in writing given to or served on a person who is—

(a) providing water services,

(b) making, causing or permitting a discharge to a drain, service connection or waste water works, or

(c) in receipt of a water supply,

require the person to keep such records or to give to the Minister, a F6[water services authority, F7[…] Irish Water] or other prescribed person, in writing or otherwise as may be specified, within such period (being not less than 14 days) beginning on the date of the giving or serving of the notice as may be specified in the notice, such particulars as may be so specified in relation to any of those activities or practices, and such other information (if any) as he or she or it may consider necessary for the purposes of those functions.

(2) A person who—

(a) fails or refuses to comply with a requirement in a notice under this section,

(b) in purported compliance with such a requirement gives to the Minister, a F6[water services authority, F7[…] Irish Water] or other prescribed body information that, to his or her knowledge, is false or is misleading in a material respect, or

(c) in relation to an application for a licence or consent, or to an application for financial assistance, or to the provision of any information required under this Act or any regulations thereunder provides information which is to his or her knowledge false or misleading,

commits an offence.

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section in relation to the provision of false or misleading information in connection with an application for a licence under this Act, any licence issued to that person consequent on the application to which the information was furnished shall stand revoked from the date of the conviction.

(4) Without prejudice to section 19(1)(f), the Minister may make regulations in relation to the provision of information or documents in electronic form by any person for the purposes of this Act.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), regulations under this section may—

(a) provide for—

(i) specification of the circumstances in which information or documents may be provided in electronic form,

(ii) related technical and procedural requirements,

(iii) consent to the giving or receipt of information in electronic form,

(iv) retention and reproduction of information or documents given in electronic form, or

(v) related and ancillary matters, and

(b) apply to a particular class or classes of information or document, or for a particular period.

(6) Subsection (4) applies without prejudice to any other enactment requiring or permitting documents or other information to be given, retained or produced, as the case may be, in accordance with specified procedural requirements or particular information technology.

(7) In this section, “electronic form” means information that is generated, communicated, processed, sent, received, recorded, stored or displayed by electronic means and is capable of being used to make a legible copy or reproduction of that communicated information, but does not include information communicated in the form of speech and such electronic means includes electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, biometric, photonic and any other form of related technology.