12.— (1) Where a member of the Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is, at any place—

(a) selling a psychoactive substance for human consumption or any object for use in cultivating by hydroponic means any plant in contravention of section 17 of the Act of 1977,

(b) importing or exporting a psychoactive substance for human consumption,

(c) publishing or displaying or causing to be published or displayed any advertisement which—

(i) indicates an intention to sell or import or export a psychoactive substance for human consumption or to sell any object for use in cultivating by hydroponic means any plant in contravention of section 17 of the Act of 1977,

(ii) promotes the consumption of a substance or a combination of substances for its or their, as the case may be, psychoactive effects and provides information on how or where a psychoactive substance may be obtained, or

(iii) provides information on how an object may be used to cultivate by hydroponic means any plant in contravention of section 17 of the Act of 1977,

he or she may, subject to subsection (3), enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) or, where the place concerned is a vehicle, stop and enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) any such place, and, at such place—

(i) carry out or have carried out such examinations, tests, inspections and checks of anything reasonably believed to be a psychoactive substance or any machinery, instrument or other thing used in the preparation, handling, storage, transport or sale of psychoactive substances, as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of this Act,

(ii) take such reasonable samples of, or from, any substances or of, or from, anything for the purposes of analysis and examination which he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of this Act,

(iii) seize and detain any machinery, instrument or other thing used in the preparation, handling, storage, transport or sale of psychoactive substances or anything which is reasonably believed to be or to contain a psychoactive substance in relation to which a contravention of this Act is being or has been committed,

(iv) inspect and take copies of any books, records, other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) or extracts therefrom, which he or she finds in the course of his or her inspection, and remove any such books, records or documents from such place and detain them for such period as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of this Act,

(v) require any person present in the place or, where the place is a vehicle, require the person who is for the time being in charge or control of the vehicle to give his or her name and address to the member,

(vi) search or cause to be searched any person present in the place,

(vii) require any person at the place or the owner or person in charge of the place and any person employed there to give to him or her such assistance and information and to produce to him or her such books, records or other documents (and in the case of records or documents stored in non-legible form, produce to him or her a legible reproduction thereof) that are in that person’s power or procurement, as he or she may reasonably require for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act,

(viii) direct that such products, substances or objects found at the place as he or she, upon reasonable grounds, believes contravene a provision of this Act not be sold or moved from the place, without his or her consent, and

(ix) secure for later inspection any place or part of any place in which a product, substance or object is found or ordinarily kept, or books, records or documents are found or ordinarily kept, for such period as may reasonably be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act.

(2) When performing a function under this Act, a member of the Garda Síochána may, subject to subsection (4), be accompanied by such other members of the Garda Síochána or such other persons as he or she considers appropriate.

(3) A member of the Garda Síochána shall not enter a dwelling, other than with the consent of the occupier or in accordance with a warrant issued under subsection (4).

(4) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied by information on oath of a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant that there are reasonable grounds for believing that—

(a) any evidence of, or relating to, the commission of an offence under this Act is to be found in any dwelling,

(b) any books, records or other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) relating to the commission of an offence under this Act are being stored or kept in any dwelling, or

(c) a dwelling is occupied in whole or in part by a person engaged in any trade, business or activity referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1),

the judge may issue a warrant authorising a named member of the Garda Síochána accompanied by such other members of the Garda Síochána or such other named persons as the member thinks necessary, at any time or times, within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, to enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) the dwelling and perform the functions under subsection (1).

(5) This section is without prejudice to any other power conferred by statute or otherwise exercisable by a member of the Garda Síochána to enter a place, to search a person or to seize and retain evidence of, or relating to, the commission or attempted commission of an offence.

(6) The power to issue a warrant under this section is without prejudice to any other power conferred by statute to issue a warrant for the search of any place or person.

(7) In this section—

“record” includes, in addition to a record in writing—

(a) a disc, tape, sound-track or other device in which information, sounds or signals are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form,

(b) a film, tape or other device in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form, and

(c) a photograph,

and any reference to a copy of a record includes—

(i) in the case of a record to which paragraph (a) applies, a transcript of the sounds or signals embodied therein,

(ii) in the case of a record to which paragraph (b) applies, a still reproduction of the images embodied therein, and

(iii) in the case of a record to which paragraphs (a) and (b) apply, such a transcript together with such a still reproduction.