217.—(1) Where an objection is made to a sanitary authority in accordance with section 6 of the Water Supplies Act, 1942, and not withdrawn, the sanitary authority shall, within 6 weeks of receiving the objection, apply to the Board for a provisional order in accordance with section 8 of that Act.

(2) Where an objection is made to a sanitary authority in accordance with section 8 of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1964, and not withdrawn, the sanitary authority shall, within 6 weeks of receiving the objection, apply to the Board for its consent to the compulsory acquisition of the land in accordance with that section.

(3) Subject to section 216, where a local authority complies with the notification provisions in relation to a compulsory purchase order under paragraph 4 of the Third Schedule to the Housing Act, 1966, it shall, within 6 weeks of complying with those provisions, submit the compulsory purchase order to the Board for confirmation.

(4) Where a road authority complies with the notification provisions in relation to a scheme in accordance with section 48 of the Roads Act, 1993, it shall, within 6 weeks of complying with those provisions, submit the scheme to the Board for approval.

(5) A notice of the making of a confirmation order to be published or served, as the case may be, in accordance with section 78(1) of the Housing Act, 1966, shall be published or served within 12 weeks of the making of the confirmation order.

(6) Notwithstanding section 123 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, where a compulsory purchase order or provisional order is confirmed by a local authority or the Board and becomes operative and the local authority decides to acquire land to which the order relates, the local authority shall serve any notice required under any enactment to be served in order to treat for the purchase of the several interests in the land (including under section 79 of the Housing Act, 1966) within 18 months of the order becoming operative.

F1113[(6A) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (6), where legal proceedings are in being challenging the validity of either—

(i) the compulsory purchase order or provisional order concerned, or

(ii) permissions, consents or authorisations granted by or under this Act or by or under any other enactment relating to the project in respect of which, or being the purpose for which, the land concerned is to be acquired,

and a notice to treat is not served within the period of 18 months (in this subsection referred to as the "first period"), the first period shall be extended for a further period (in this subsection referred to as the "second period") beginning on the day immediately after the day on which the first period expires and expiring on the earlier of the following:

(I) 30 days after the day on which the legal proceedings are concluded; or

(II) 18 months after the day on which the first period expires.

(b) Where proceedings referred to in paragraph (a) have not been concluded during the second period, on an application to the High Court by the local authority before the expiration of the second period, that court may, if it considers that, in the particular circumstances there is good and sufficient reason for doing so, extend the second period by such further period from its expiration as it believes necessary in the circumstances provided that, having regard to all of the circumstances, it considers that it would be just and equitable to do so.]

(7) (a) A decision of the Board made in the performance of a function transferred to it under section 214 or 215 shall become operative 3 weeks from the date on which notice of the decision is first published.

(b) Subsections (8) and (9) of section 52 of the Roads Act, 1993 (as inserted by section 5 of the Roads (Amendment) Act, 1998) and subsections (2) to (4) of section 78 of the Housing Act, 1966, shall not apply in relation to decisions of the Board under this Part.