PART V

Enforcement

23. —(1) A person who obstructs or impedes a litter warden or a member of the Garda Síochána who is exercising functions under this Act shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A litter warden or a member of the Garda Síochána who—

(a) has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence under this Act, may request the person to give his or her name and address, and may request that the information given be verified, and

(b) is dissatisfied with the verification provided pursuant to a request under paragraph (a), may request that the person accompany the warden or member to a local authority office or Garda station for the purpose of the verification.

(3) A person who—

(a) fails to give his or her name and address when requested to do so under subsection (2)(a) or gives a name or address that is false or misleading, or

(b) fails to comply with a request made by a warden or member under subsection (2)(b),

shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) Where a litter warden makes a request of a person under this section, the litter warden shall, where the person requires proof of the litter warden's authority, produce to the person a certificate or other evidence of such authority.

(5) A litter warden who believes that the assistance of a member of the Garda Síochána is required in any particular instance to prevent the obstruction of the litter warden in exercising the litter warden's functions under this Act may request such member to assist to prevent the obstruction and the member shall comply with the request.

(6) A member of the Garda Síochána who is of the opinion that a person is committing or has committed an offence under this section may arrest the person without warrant.

24. —(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(2) If, after the conviction of a person for the contravention of a provision of this Act, the contravention is continued, the person shall be guilty of a further offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 for each day during which the contravention continues.

25. —(1) An offence under this Act may be prosecuted by the local authority in whose functional area the offence was committed.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 3 (4), the court may, in addition to any other penalty that may be imposed for the offence, order that the convicted person pay to the local authority or person who suffered loss in respect of the litter receptacle involved in the commission of the offence, the costs incurred by the local authority or person for the repair or replacement of the receptacle.

(3) Where an offence under this Act which is committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the offence committed by the body corporate.

(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act in proceedings brought by a local authority, the court shall, unless it is satisfied that there are special and substantial reasons for not so doing, order the person to pay to the local authority the costs and expenses measured by the court, incurred by the local authority in relation to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence, and the costs and expenses incurred by the local authority in the collection and disposal of any litter to which the prosecution relates.

(5) Where a court imposes a fine or affirms or varies a fine imposed by another court for an offence under this Act in proceedings brought by a local authority, it shall provide by order for the payment of the amount of the fine to the local authority and such payment may be enforced by the local authority as if it were due to it pursuant to a decree or order made by the court in civil proceedings.

26. —Where the contents of litter that has been deposited in contravention of this Act or of municipal waste that has been placed in contravention of section 3 (3) gives rise to a reasonable suspicion as to the identity of the person from whom the litter or waste emanated, the contents shall, in a prosecution of the person for an offence under this Act, constitute evidence, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the litter or waste emanated from the person before the deposit or placement and that the person made the contravening deposit or placement.

27. —(1) Where a mechanically propelled vehicle, other than a large public service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, is used in the commission of an offence under this Act—

(a) the registered owner of the vehicle,

(b) if the vehicle is the subject of a hire-drive agreement at the time of the commission of the offence, the person who hired the vehicle, and

(c) if the person using the vehicle at the time of the commission of the offence is not the registered owner or the person who hired the vehicle, the person using the vehicle at that time,

or each of them severally shall be guilty of an offence, whether or not any other of them is prosecuted and convicted for the offence.

(2) If the person charged with an offence under subsection (1) is the registered owner of the vehicle concerned, it shall be a defence for the person to show that, at the time of the commission of the offence, the vehicle was being used by another person and that—

(a) such use was unauthorised, or

(b) the vehicle was at that time the subject of a hire-drive agreement.

(3) If the person charged with an offence under subsection (1) is the person to whom the vehicle concerned stood hired under a hire-drive agreement at the time of the commission of the offence, it shall be a defence for the person to show that, at the time, the vehicle was being used by another person and that such use was unauthorised.

28. —(1) If a litter warden or a member of the Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed a prescribed offence under this Act, or a dog warden, within the meaning of the Control of Dogs Act, 1986, or a member of the Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence under section 22 , the warden or member may give to the person a notice in prescribed form stating—

(a) that the person is alleged to have committed the offence,

(b) that the person may during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to the local authority specified in the notice a payment of £25 accompanied by the notice, and

(c) that a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(2) Where a notice is given under subsection (1)—

(a) a person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to the local authority specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice, accompanied by the notice,

(b) the local authority shall receive the payment and issue a receipt for it and may retain the money so paid for disposal in accordance with this Act, and no payment so received shall in any circumstances be recoverable by the person who made it, and

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted in the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence referred to in subsection (1), the onus of showing that a payment pursuant to a notice under this section has been made shall lie on the accused.

(4) Where the Minister is satisfied that the monetary amount for the time being standing specified—

(a) in paragraph (b) of subsection (1), or

(b) in respect of paragraph (b) of subsection (1), by virtue of a regulation made under this subsection,

should, having regard to changes in the value of money generally in the State since the monetary amount was so specified, be varied, the Minister may by regulation specify an amount that the Minister considers is appropriate, and in such case paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall, in relation to any offence referred to in subsection (1) committed while the regulation is in effect, have effect as if the amount specified in the regulation was set out in paragraph (b) of that subsection.