17A.— (1) Where a specimen of blood has been taken from a person under section 14(3A) a member of the Garda Síochána shall, as soon as practicable but in any event no later than 6 months after the date of the event referred to in section 14(1), require that person to give his or her permission for a completed certificate to be forwarded under section 17.

(2) A member of the Garda Síochána shall notify the Bureau as soon as practicable after he or she has been given the permission of a person following a requirement under subsection (1).

(3) Where the Bureau receives a specimen under section 17 taken from a person under section 14(3A) the Bureau shall not forward a completed certificate under section 17(3) unless the Bureau has received a notification under subsection (2) in relation to that specimen.

(4) The Minister may prescribe forms for the purposes of this section.

(5) A person who, following a requirement under subsection (1), without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to give his or her permission for a completed certificate to be forwarded under section 17 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

(6) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (5) for refusing or failing to give permission for a completed certificate to be forwarded under section 17, it is a defence for the defendant to satisfy the court that there was a special and substantial reason for his or her refusal or failure and that, as soon as practicable after the refusal or failure concerned, he or she complied (or offered, but was not called upon, to comply) with a requirement under subsection (1).

(7) Section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 does not apply to an offence under this section.]