Department 'unfairly' sought €25,000 repayment from flooded farmer - Ombudsman

The man received the grant under the Department of Agriculture’s Afforestation Scheme to establish a forest on his land. The Department inspected the man’s land and approved his grant in 2004. However, the forest was destroyed following severe flooding in 2009.

When he realised the extent of the damage, the man contacted the Department in 2010 looking for advice.

According to the Ombusdman, the Department stopped his payment and did not make a decision on how to proceed for almost three years. In January 2013, they demanded repayment of the grant of over €25,000, in full, within one month.

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall decided that the Department had acted unfairly in seeking recovery of the money.

“Where people apply for and receive grants in good faith, they should not be reclaimed. This is particularly so in this case where the farmer lost his crop through no fault of his own and was hit with the double blow of a bill from the Department. I’m glad we were able to put things right,” the Ombudsman said.

Local drainage

The man’s land is surrounded by canals which form part of a local drainage network. The local authority is responsible for maintaining the drains, but stopped draining the canals around 2009 because of damage caused by the floods. The drains on the man’s land were satisfactory but could not work properly because of the local drainage network.

The Department maintained that the man knew that his land was prone to flooding when he made the application for the grant in 2004. It also maintained that the man was partially responsible for damage to the forest.

The Ombudsman discovered that the Department had inspected the man’s land and had been made aware that the land may be prone to flooding prior to granting the man’s application. In addition, the Ombudsman was satisfied that the Department’s definition of force majeure applied in this particular case and, therefore, the man was not responsible for the destruction of the forest.

In these circumstances, the Department agreed to not pursue the repayment.