(a) Subject to paragraph (b), where -
(i) a Minister of the Government or the head of a public body (other than a Department of State or the Office of the Tánaiste) in relation to which functions stand conferred on that Minister of the Government -
(I) pursuant to section 8, refuses to grant a request to him or her under section 7, or
(II) pursuant to section 14, upholds a decision, or decides, to refuse to grant a request under section 7,
because he or she is satisfied that, by virtue of section 23 or 24, the record concerned is an exempt record, and
(ii) the Minister of the Government is satisfied, that the record is of sufficient sensitivity or seriousness to justify his or her doing so,
the Minister of the Government may declare, in a certificate issued by him or her ("a certificate"), that the record is, by virtue of section 23 or 24, an exempt record.
(b) A Minister of the Government shall not issue a certificate in respect of a record the subject of a decision referred