7.— (1) On receipt of a request to initiate an investigation in relation to alleged criminal offences pursuant to Article 7 of the Council Decision—

(a) the national unit shall transmit the request to the designated competent authority concerned,

(b) that designated competent authority shall decide whether or not to comply with the request and communicate the decision to the national unit, and

(c) the national unit shall notify Europol of the decision of the designated competent authority.

(2) Where the designated competent authority concerned decides not to comply with the request, the national unit shall notify Europol of the reasons for the refusal unless the national unit considers that to so inform Europol would be likely to—

(a) prejudice the security or other essential interests of the State or be contrary to public policy,

(b) prejudice a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings in the State, or

(c) jeopardise the safety of a person.

(3) The national unit shall notify Europol of the result of an investigation carried out on foot of a request under subsection (1).