16.— Section 33 of the Act of 2003 is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for subsection (1)(a) of the following subsection:

“(1) A court may, upon an application made by or on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, issue a European arrest warrant in respect of a person where it is satisfied that—

(a) a domestic warrant has been issued for the arrest of that person but has not been executed, and

(b) the person may not be in the State, and”,

(b) in subsection (1)(b)(i) by the insertion of “or detention” after “imprisonment”,

(c) in subsection (1)(b)(ii) by the insertion of “or detention” after “imprisonment” in each place where it occurs, and

(d) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(1A) Where a court issues a European arrest warrant in respect of a person under this section, such issue shall be deemed to constitute a request by the court for entry of an alert and of a copy of the European arrest warrant in respect of that person.

(1B) For the purposes of subsection (1), where a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of Sergeant states that he or she believes that a person may not be in the State, the statement is admissible as evidence that the person may not be in the State.”.