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.”.