Electricity (Supply) Act, 1927

Control of Shannon works.

17.—(1) When the Shannon works are completed and handed over to the Minister by the contractor engaged in the construction thereof the Minister shall, as soon as conveniently may be, by order under his seal hand such works over to the Board, and, in the event of any portion of the Shannon works being completed and handed over to the Minister by the said contractor, the Minister may if he so thinks fit at any time thereafter by order under his seal hand over to the Board such completed portion of the said works at any time before the completion of the whole of the said works.

(2) The handing over of the Shannon works or any part thereof by the Minister to the Board under this section shall be without prejudice to the rights of the Minister under his contract with the contractor engaged in the construction of the said works and nothing in this section relating to legal proceedings shall apply to any legal proceedings brought by the Minister to enforce such rights.

(3) Notwithstanding the handing over of the Shannon works or any part thereof to the Board under this section such works shall remain and be vested in law in the Minister but as from the date on which the Shannon works or any portion thereof are handed over to the Board under this section the Board shall, unless and until the Oireachtas otherwise directs, have the exclusive possession and control of such works or portion thereof (as the case may be) and the exclusive right to exercise powers and rights in relation thereto conferred on the Minister by the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 (No. 26 of 1925) as amended by this Act, and the Board shall enjoy and exercise such possession and control under and in accordance with this Act and any amendment thereof hereafter made by the Oireachtas, and for the purpose of any legal proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in respect of any matter occurring during such possession and control (including proceedings by the Minister for Finance to enforce a charge created by this Act) the Board may sue or prosecute and be sued or prosecuted as the owner of the said works or of such portion thereof as shall then have been handed over to it under this section, and the property in such works or such portion thereof may be laid in the Board.