6.—(1) (a) Where, on application to the appropriate court by—

(i) F6[the F7[appropriate Minister]],

(ii) a local authority in respect of any area of seashore which is in whole or in part within its functional area or contiguous thereto, or

(iii) any other person, whether or not that person has an interest in the seashore concerned,

that court is satisfied that there has occurred or is occurring any removal or disturbance of beach material or any kind or kinds of beach material by another person (in this paragraph referred to as “the second-mentioned person”) in contravention of—

(I) a licence granted under section 3 of the Principal Act,

(II) a prohibitory order under section 6 of the Principal Act, or

(III) a prohibitory notice under section 7 of that Act,

that court may make an order directing the second-mentioned person to do any one or more of the following, that is to say—

(A) to refrain from or cease such removal or disturbance within such period as may be specified in the order, or

(B) to mitigate or remedy any effects of such removal or disturbance in such manner and within such period as may be specified in the order, or

(C) to pay to the applicant or such other person as may be specified in the order a specified amount to defray all or part of any costs incurred by the applicant or that other person in investigating, mitigating or remedying the effects of such removal or disturbance.

(b) In this subsection “appropriate court”, in relation to an application under paragraph (a) of this subsection, means—

(i) in case the estimated cost of complying with the order to which the application relates does not exceed F8[€15,000], the District Court,

(ii) in case the estimated cost aforesaid does not exceed F9[€75,000], the Circuit Court

(iii) in any case, the High Court.

(c) (i) If, in relation to an application under this section to the District Court, that court becomes of opinion during the hearing of the application that the estimated cost aforesaid will exceed F10[€15,000], it may, if it so thinks fit, transfer the application to the Circuit Court or the High Court, whichever it considers appropriate having regard to the estimated costs aforesaid.

(ii) If, in relation to an application under this section to the Circuit Court, that court becomes of opinion during the hearing of the application that the estimated cost aforesaid will exceed F11[€75,000], it may, if it so thinks fit, by order transfer the application to the High Court.

(d) An application under this section shall be brought in a summary manner.

(e) A court may, if it so thinks fit, make such interim or interlocutory order as it considers appropriate in proceedings under this section and, where an application is transferred under paragraph (c) of this subsection, the court to which it is transferred shall be deemed to have made any order made under this paragraph by the court from which it is so transferred in the proceedings in relation to the application.

(2) Without prejudice to any power of a court to enforce orders made by it, a person who does not comply with an order under subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

(3) (a) An order shall not be made by a court under this section unless the person named in the order has been given an opportunity of being heard by the court in the proceedings relating to the application for the order.

(b) The court concerned may make such order as to the costs of the parties to or heard by the court in proceedings relating to an application for an order under this section as it considers appropriate.

(4) (a) Where a person does not comply with an order under subsection (1) of this section—

(i) F6[the F7[appropriate Minister]], or

(ii) the local authority in whose functional area the whole or any part of the seashore concerned is situated or contiguous thereto,

may take any steps specified in the order to mitigate or remedy the effects of the removal or disturbance of beachmaterial or any kind or kinds of beach material to which the order relates.

(b) The amount of any expenditure incurred by F6[the F7[appropriate Minister]] or a local authority in relation to steps taken by him or the authority under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be a simple contract debt owed by the person in respect of whom the order under subsection (1) of this section was made to the F7[appropriate Minister] or the authority, as the case may be, and may be recovered by him or the authority from the person as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) (a) An application under subsection (1) of this section to the District Court shall be made to the judge of the District Court for the District Court district in which the seashore concerned is in whole or in part situated or in which the defendant ordinarily resides.

(b) An application under subsection (1) of this section to the Circuit Court shall be made to the judge of the Circuit Court for the circuit in which the seashore concerned is in whole or in part situated or in which the defendant ordinarily resides.

(6) The provisions of section 16 of the Principal Act shall not apply in respect of proceedings to which this section relates.

(7) An application may be made under subsection (1) of this section notwithstanding that a prosecution under the Principal Act has not been brought in respect of the matters to which the application relates.