4.— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 2(1) (amended by section 24 of the Act of 2010) by inserting the following definition:

“ ‘electronic’ includes digital, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, biometric, photonic and any other form of related technology;”,

(b) in section 2 by inserting the following subsection after subsection 7:

“(8) In sections 62, 141 and 274A, ‘electronic communication’ means the communication of information that is generated, transmitted, processed, received, recorded, stored or displayed by electronic means or in electronic form, and includes—

(a) information communicated in the form of speech which is processed at its destination by an automatic voice recognition system,

(b) a communication transmitted by means of the internet or by means of mobile phone telephony, and

(c) the transmission of a signature by electronic means.”,

(c) in section 62 by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(b), for the purposes of that subsection a person may prove unemployment and may make a declaration for that purpose, by means of an electronic communication, in the prescribed manner.”,

(d) in section 141 by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(b), for the purposes of that subsection a person may prove unemployment and may make a declaration for that purpose, by means of an electronic communication, in the prescribed manner.”,

and

(e) by inserting the following section after section 274:

“Evidence in proceedings in relation to proving unemployment by electronic communication.

274A.— (1) Where a person is required, for the purposes of section 62 or 141, to prove unemployment and make a declaration for that purpose and the person has proved unemployment and made a declaration in the prescribed manner, by means of an electronic communication—

(a) a certificate signed by an officer of the Minister, authorised by the Minister in that behalf, stating—

(i) that he or she has examined the record relating to the proving of unemployment and the making of a declaration for that purpose by the person by means of the electronic communication in the prescribed manner,

(ii) that a record of that electronic communication has been made, and

(iii) the date on which that electronic communication was made,

shall be admissible in evidence in any proceedings (whether civil or criminal) before a court and shall be evidence of those facts unless the contrary is proved in any such proceedings, and

(b) it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved in any such proceedings, that—

(i) a declaration that purports to have been made by a person by means of an electronic communication, was made by that person,

(ii) a declaration which purports to have been made by a person by means of an electronic communication in respect of a particular period, was made in respect of that period,

(iii) any equipment used to make the electronic communication operated effectively, and

(iv) the method of electronic communication used for the purpose of making a declaration operated effectively.

(2) Any declaration made by means of an electronic communication in accordance with this Act shall be deemed to be a declaration made in the prescribed manner under section 62 or 141.

(3) Any declaration made by means of an electronic communication in accordance with this Act shall be deemed to be a statement or representation for the purposes of section 251.

(4) A document purporting to be a certificate referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall be deemed to be such a certificate and to have been signed by the person purporting to have signed it and to have been signed in accordance with an authorisation referred to in subsection (1)(a) unless the contrary is proved.”.