19.— (1) Where in the course of exercising any powers under this Act a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise finds or comes into possession of any substance, product, object, machinery, instrument, book, record (within the meaning of section 12), any other document or other thing and he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that it is evidence of any offence or suspected offence under this Act, he or she may seize and retain it for use in evidence in any criminal or civil proceedings for such period from the date of seizure as is reasonable or, if proceedings are commenced in which the thing so seized is required for use in evidence, until the conclusion of the proceedings, and thereafter the Police (Property) Act 1897 and, where appropriate, section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act 1951 shall apply to the thing so seized in the same manner as that Act and the said section 25 apply to property which has come into the possession of the Garda Síochána in the circumstances mentioned in that Act.

(2) If it is represented or appears to a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise proposing to seize or retain a document under this Act that the document was, or may have been, made for the purpose of obtaining, giving or communicating legal advice from or by a barrister or solicitor, the member or officer, as the case may be, shall not seize or retain the document unless he or she suspects with reasonable cause that the document was not made, or is not intended, solely for any of those purposes.

(3) Where any substance, product, object, machinery, instrument, book, record (within the meaning of section 12), any document or other thing which is seized from or forfeited by a person under this Act is duly disposed of by or on behalf of the State the costs of such disposal, less any moneys arising from such disposal, shall (except where such costs have been waived in writing) be recoverable from such person as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) The power under this section to seize and retain evidence is without prejudice to any other power conferred by statute or otherwise exercisable by a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise to seize and retain evidence of, or relating to, the commission or attempted commission of an offence.