8.— (1) The Minister is the Central Authority for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Central Authority has the function of receiving, transmitting and otherwise dealing with requests, except those made under Part 3 , and of co-operating, in accordance with the relevant international instrument, with corresponding persons or bodies in designated states in relation to requests received from them.

(3) The Minister may, if he or she considers it appropriate, designate persons to perform specified functions of the Central Authority, and different persons may be so designated to perform different such functions.

(4) While such a designation is in force, a reference in this Act to the Central Authority, in so far as it relates to the performance of a function specified in the designation, is to be construed as a reference to the person so designated to perform that function.

(5) The Minister may amend or revoke a designation.

(6) The Minister shall, by notice in writing, inform the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union of the names of any persons designated for the time being under this section.