18. (1) The Commission may, to enable it to perform its functions under this Act, do all or any of the following things:

(a) summon witnesses to attend before it;

(b) examine on oath (which the Commission, or any member of staff of the Commission duly authorised by the Commission, is by this section authorised to administer) the witnesses attending before it;

(c) require any such witness to produce to the Commission any books, documents and records in his or her power or control;

(d) by notice in writing, require any person or undertaking to provide it with such written information as the Commission considers necessary to enable it to carry out its functions.

(2) A witness before the Commission pursuant to subsection (1)(a), shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he or she were a witness before the High Court.

(3) A summons to be issued for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) shall be signed by a member of the Commission.

(4) A person who—

(a) on being duly summoned as a witness before the Commission makes default in attending,

(b) being in attendance as a witness refuses to take an oath legally required by the Commission to be taken, or to produce any books, documents and records in his or her power or control legally required by the Commission to be produced by him or her, or to answer any question to which the Commission may legally require an answer,

(c) provides the Commission with information that the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, is false or misleading in a material respect,

(d) fails, without reasonable cause, to provide information pursuant to a notice under paragraph (d) of subsection (1), or

(e) does any other thing which, if the Commission were a court having power to commit for contempt of court, would be contempt of such court,

is guilty of an offence.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.

(6) Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) operates so that if the contravention concerned continues one or more days after the date of its first occurrence, the person referred to in that paragraph is guilty of a separate offence under that paragraph for each day that the contravention occurs; but in respect of the second or subsequent offence of which the person is guilty by reason of that continued contravention, paragraph (b) of subsection (5) shall have effect as if “€25,000” were substituted for “€250,000” and references to imprisonment were disregarded.