9.— (1) An application for an authorisation under section 4 or 6 , and any documents supporting the application, shall be retained until—

(a) the day that is 3 years after the day on which the authorisation concerned ceases to be in force, or

(b) the day on which they are no longer required for any prosecution or appeal to which they are relevant,

whichever is later.

(2) A written record of approval prepared under section 7(6) or 8(6), and a report made under section 7(11) or 8(9), shall be retained until—

(a) the day that is 3 years after the day on which the written record of approval is prepared or the report concerned is made, or

(b) the day on which they are no longer required for any prosecution or appeal to which they are relevant,

whichever is later.

(3) The documents obtained as a result of surveillance carried out or tracking devices used under this Act, other than those referred to in subsections (1) and (2), shall be retained until—

(a) the day that is 3 years after the end of the surveillance or monitoring concerned, or

(b) the day on which they are no longer required for any prosecution or appeal to which they are relevant,

whichever is later.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), the documents referred to in subsections (1) to (3) shall be destroyed as soon as practicable after they are no longer required to be retained under those subsections.

(5) The relevant Minister may authorise in writing the retention of any of the documents referred to in this section where he or she considers it necessary to do so having regard to—

(a) the interests of the protection of the privacy and other rights of persons,

(b) the security of the State,

(c) the aims of preventing the commission of, and detecting, arrestable offences, and

(d) the interests of justice.