PART 4

Miscellaneous Amendments

25. —(1) The Customs-free Airport Act 1947 is amended, on the Dublin appointed day, in section 2, by substituting for subsection (3) (inserted by section 60(a) of the Act of 1998) the following:

“(3) For the purposes of this Act, the airport shall comprise land at Shannon which for the time being belongs to the State and Dublin Airport Authority, public limited company or Shannon Airport Authority, public limited company with effect from the Shannon appointed day (within the meaning of the State Airports Act 2004).”.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), sections 2 to 8 of the Customs-free Airport (Amendment) Act 1958 are repealed.

(3) Any licence granted under section 2 of the Customs-free Airport (Amendment) Act 1958 , which is in force immediately before the Dublin appointed day, continues in force, subject to its conditions, until 31 December 2005, and, accordingly, sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 continue to apply to the licence until it ceases to be in force.

26. —Section 2A(4) (inserted by section 65 of the Act of 1998 and as amended by section 50 of the Act of 2001) of the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1973 is amended by substituting—

(a) in paragraph (a) “€3,000” for “£1,500”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) “€3,000” for “£1,500”.

27. —(1) Where—

(a) an authorised officer in relation to a State airport for which he or she is such officer, or

(b) an officer of the Minister or other person appointed by the Minister for the purpose of this section in relation to an airport which is not a State airport,

has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence under—

(i) section 15 (6) for contravening a provision of a bye-law made under that section, or

(ii) section 2A(1) or (2) (inserted by section 65 of the Act of 1998) of the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1973 , he or she may serve the person with a notice (“fixed payment notice”) in the prescribed form stating that—

(I) the person is alleged to have committed the offence,

(II) the person may make to the relevant company at the address specified in the notice a payment, accompanied by the notice, of—

(A) €100 in respect of an offence mentioned at subparagraph (i), during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, or

(B) €250 in respect of an offence mentioned at subparagraph (ii), upon request or, at the discretion of the authorised person, during such period as the officer decides being not more than 3 days beginning on the date of the notice,

or such other amounts standing specified (and in respect of any amount specified for an offence mentioned at subparagraph (i) different amounts may be specified for contravention of different bye-laws) for the time being in regulations made by the Minister, and

(C) 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 fixed payment 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 relevant company concerned at the address specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice accompanied by the notice,

(b) the relevant company may receive the payment, issue a receipt for it and retain the money so paid, and any payment so received shall not be recoverable in any circumstances 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 so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence under this Act the onus of proving that a payment pursuant to a notice under this section has been made shall lie on the defendant.

(4) In this section “relevant company” means Aer Rianta c.p.t., Dublin Airport Authority, Cork Airport Authority, Shannon Airport Authority, or the Minister in relation to an airport which is not a State airport, as the case may be.

28. —Section 7 of the Act of 1998 is amended by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) A person guilty of an offence—

(a) under section 39, 47, 50 is liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or to both,

or

(b) under any other provision of this Act is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or both.”.