32.— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 262—

(i) in subsection (3)(a), by inserting the following after subparagraph (x):

“(xa) certificate of death, where relevant;

(xb) a photograph of the person, other than in the case of a deceased person;

(xc) the person’s signature, other than in the case of a deceased person;”,

(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(3A) An officer of the Minister may retain any document (including a passport, visa, identity card, driving licence, birth certificate or marriage certificate or any other document establishing a person’s nationality or identity), given for any purpose under this Act, for such period as may be reasonable which period shall not in any case exceed 21 days.

(3B) Where a document is retained under subsection (3A) a receipt in the prescribed form shall be issued in respect of it to the person concerned.”,

(iii) in subsection (6)(a), by inserting “in respect of that transaction” after “necessary”,

(b) by inserting the following section after section 262:

“Offence.

262A.— (1) A person is guilty of an offence where, for the purposes of the allocation and issue of a personal public service number to him or her or for any other person (including a deceased person) he or she—

(a) knowingly makes any statement or representation, whether oral or written, which he or she knows to be false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any material fact, or

(b) gives or causes or knowingly allows to be given any document or other information which the person is required under section 262 or regulations made thereunder to give and which he or she knows to be false or misleading in any material respect.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €25,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both.”,

(c) in section 263, by substituting the following for subsection (1):

“(1) The Minster may issue a card (in this Act referred to as a ‘public service card’) to a person in the format that the Minister deems fit, with—

(a) the person’s name, personal public service number, photograph, signature, card issue number and expiry date of the card inscribed, and

(b) the person’s name, personal public service number, date of birth, sex, all former surnames (if any) of the person’s mother, photograph, signature and expiry date of the card electronically encoded,

on the card and any other information that may be prescribed either inscribed or electronically encoded on the card.”,

and

(d) in Schedule 5, in paragraph 1.(4), by deleting “An Post”.