PART II.

Control of Hire-Purchase, Credit-Sale and Letting of Goods.

6. —(1) The Minister may by order provide for the regulation and control of the letting, whether under hire-purchase agreements or otherwise, and the selling by credit-sale agreements of goods or of any class or description of goods.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing or to anything in the Principal Act, an order under this section may provide for—

(a) the form of the agreements referred to in subsection (1) of this section,

(b) the minimum deposit to be paid by a buyer or hirer,

(c) the maximum period of payment, and the amount and frequency of instalments or rentals,

(d) the information to be given in any visual advertisement or visual announcement published or made in any form or manner whatsoever relating to goods for sale by way of hire-purchase or credit-sale agreement regarding the terms upon which the goods will be sold,

(e) the inclusion in any such advertisement or announcement of a statement of the price at which the goods will be sold for cash.

(3) An order under this section may also provide that a person who sells or lets goods to which the order applies shall not be entitled to enforce any agreement for such sale or letting or any right to recover the goods unless specified provisions of the order are complied with.

(4) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

(5) An order under any provision of this section (except in relation to paragraph (d) or (e) of subsection (2) of this section) shall be made only after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

7. —Any person who carries on, or is employed in connection with, the business of letting goods, whether under hire-purchase agreements or otherwise, or selling goods by credit-sale agreements shall, whenever so required by the Minister, furnish to the Minister any books, documents, records, particulars, or information in that person's power or control which the Minister may require for enabling him to exercise his functions under this Part of this Act.

8. —(1) The Minister may appoint such and so many of his officers as he thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(2) Every authorised officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer, and, as soon as he has entered any premises pursuant to section 9 of this Act, shall produce the warrant to the person in charge of the premises.

9. —(1) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of obtaining any information which the Minister may require for enabling him to exercise his functions under this Part of this Act, at all reasonable times enter premises at which the business of letting goods, whether under hire-purchase agreements or otherwise, or selling goods by credit-sale agreements is carried on and do any one or more of the following things—

(a) inspect the premises,

(b) require the person who carries on such business and any person employed in connection therewith to produce to him any books, documents or records relating to such business which are in that person's power or control and to give him such information as he may reasonably require in regard to any entries in such books, documents or records,

(c) inspect and copy or take extracts from such books, documents or records,

(d) require such person to give to him any information he may reasonably require in regard to the persons carrying on such business (including, in particular, in the case of an unincorporated body of persons, information in regard to the membership thereof and of its committee of management or other controlling authority) or employed in connection therewith,

(e) require such person to give to him any other information which he may reasonably require in regard to such business.

(2) No one shall be required by virtue of section 7 of this Act or subsection (1) of this section to answer any question or to give any evidence tending to criminate himself.

(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, if any person obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of his powers under this section or does not comply with a requirement under section 7 of this Act or under this section, that person shall be guilty of an offence.

10. —(1) No person shall disclose information available to him by virtue of the powers of obtaining information conferred on him by this Part of this Act.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to—

(a) a communication made by an authorised officer in the execution of his duties under this Part of this Act,

(b) the disclosure of information for the purpose of legal proceedings under this Part of this Act.

(3) If any person contravenes subsection (1) of this section he shall be guilty of an offence.

11. —(1) A person who contravenes (whether by act or omission) any provision of an order under this Part of this Act for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Every person who aids, abets, or assists another person, or conspires with another person, to do any thing (whether by way of act or of omission) the doing of which is declared by subsection (1) of this section to be an offence shall himself be guilty of an offence.

12. —Where an offence under this Part of this Act is committed by a body corporate or by a person purporting to act on behalf of a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons, and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any default on the part of any person being, in the case of a body corporate, a director thereof, or, in the case of an unincorporated body, a member of the committee of management or other controlling authority thereof, that person shall also be guilty of the offence.

13. —Every person who commits an offence under this Part of this Act shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

14. —(1) Proceedings in relation to an offence under this Part of this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Part of this Act may be instituted within twelve months from the date of the offence.