6.(1) (a) Within 2 weeks of the date of the receipt by the Board of the request of a prospective applicant under section 5(1) to enter into consultations the Board shall either—

(i) accept the request of the prospective applicant to enter into consultations where it decides that the request has complied with section 5, including any regulations made for the purposes of subsection (5)(a)(vi) of that section, or

(ii) refuse the request of the prospective applicant to enter consultations where—

(I) the prospective applicant has not complied with subsection (2) of section 5 or paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (7) of that section, or

(II) the Board decides that the request does not include some or all of the information, statements or appropriate fee to which subsections (5) and (6) of section 5 relates.

(b) In any consultations under F9[under this section], the Board may give advice to the prospective applicant regarding the procedures involved in making a planning application and in considering such an application.

(2) Where the Board refuses under subsection (1)(a)(ii) to consider a request under section 5(1) by a prospective applicant to enter into consultations within 2 weeks from the date of the receipt of the request, then the Board shall—

(a) subject to subsection (3), return to the prospective applicant concerned the copies of the request and statement submitted to it for the purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b), respectively, of section 5(5), and

(b) give reasons for its decision to the prospective applicant.

(3) Subsection (2) is without prejudice to the Board—

(a) making a copy of the request,

(b) retaining an electronic copy of the request, or

(c) by agreement with the prospective applicant concerned, retaining the request,

submitted to the Board for the purposes of section 5(5)(a).

(4) (a) Where subsection (1)(a)(i) applies, then within 2 weeks from the date of the receipt by the Board of the request under section 5(1) the Board shall notify in writing the prospective applicant and the appropriate planning authority or planning authorities, as the case may be—

(i) that the Board has accepted the request made under section 5(1), and

(ii) that the Board will convene a consultation meeting between the parties so notified and the Board in the manner provided for by subsection (5) .

(b) Within 2 weeks of the date of the notification under paragraph (a), each planning authority concerned shall submit to the Board—

(i) copies of all records of the consultation or consultations held with the prospective applicant by that authority pursuant to section 5(2), and

(ii) that planning authority’s opinion in writing (including the reasons for its opinion) of what considerations, related to proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned, may have a bearing on the Board’s decision in relation to the proposed strategic housing development, in particular, that authority’s opinion on the proposed development having regard to the provisions of the relevant development plan or local area plan, as the case may be,

and shall send to that prospective applicant copies of the records and the opinion so submitted.

(5) The Board shall convene a consultation meeting—

(a) to take place within 4 weeks of the date of the F9[notification under subsection (4)(a)], and

(b) to be attended by—

(i) (I) the prospective applicant, or one or more persons on his or her behalf, or

(II) the prospective applicant and one or more persons nominated by him or her,

(ii) the Board, and

(iii) subject to subsection (6), each planning authority in whose area the proposed strategic housing development would be situated.

(6) Each planning authority in whose area the proposed strategic housing development would be situated shall ensure that planning authority officials attending the consultation meeting on its behalf have a sufficient level of relevant knowledge and expertise in the matter concerned.

(7) Within 3 weeks of the holding, in accordance with subsection (5), of the consultation meeting or, if more than one such meeting, the last of F10[…] those meetings, the Board—

(a) having regard to the consultation that has taken place for the purposes of this section and the submissions under subsection (4)(b) of each planning authority concerned, shall form an opinion as to whether the documents referred to in section 5(5)—

(i) constitute a reasonable basis for an application under section 4, or

(ii) require further consideration and amendment in order to constitute a reasonable basis for an application under section 4,

and

(b) shall issue a notice accordingly to the prospective applicant and to the planning authority or authorities in whose area or areas the proposed strategic housing development would be situated and, where the Board is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), the Board shall set out in the notice its advice as to the issues that need to be addressed in the documents to which section 5(5) relates that could result in them constituting a reasonable basis for an application under section 4.

(8) Following receipt by a prospective applicant of—

(a) a notice under subsection (7), and

(b) where either or both a determination and an opinion have been requested under section 7(1), such a determination or opinion or both,

the prospective applicant may—

(i) subject to complying with section 8(1) proceed to apply for permission under section 4(1), or

(ii) seek a further pre-application consultation with the Board pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(9) Neither—

(a) the holding of a consultation under this section, nor

(b) the forming of an opinion under this section,

shall prejudice the performance by the Board, or the planning authority or authorities in whose area or areas the proposed strategic housing development would be situated, of any other of their respective functions under the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2016, or any other enactment and cannot be relied upon in the formal planning process or in legal proceedings.

(10) The Board may, at its absolute discretion, consult with any person who may, in the opinion of the Board, have information which is relevant for the purposes of consultations under this section in relation to a proposed strategic housing development.

(11) The Board shall keep a record of any consultations under this section in relation to a proposed strategic housing development, including the names of those who participated in the consultations, and a copy of such record shall be placed and kept with the documents to which any application in respect of that proposed development relates.

(12) A person shall not question the validity of any steps taken by the Board under this section by reason only that the procedures as set out in subsection (1), (2), (4), (5) or (7), as the case may be, were not completed within the time referred to in the subsection concerned.