46.— (1) For the purposes of any proceedings before it under this Act, the Authority may—

(a) summon witnesses to attend before it,

(b) examine on oath the witnesses attending before it, or

(c) require any such witness to produce to the Authority any document in the power or control of the witness.

(2) A witness before the Authority is entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he or she were a witness before the High Court.

(3) A person shall not—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Authority, make default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance as a witness, refuse to—

(i) take an oath legally required by the Authority to be taken,

(ii) produce any document in the witness’s power or control legally required by the Authority to be produced by the witness, or

(iii) answer any question to which the Authority may legally require an answer.

(4) Where a witness (other than an applicant for an adoption order or for the recognition of an intercountry adoption effected outside the State) attends before the Authority in pursuance of a summons issued on the initiative of the Authority, the Authority, if it thinks fit, may pay to the witness a sum—

(a) for expenses incurred by the witness in connection with the attendance, and

(b) in accordance with a scale prescribed by the Minister, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance.