Receiving a CPO one of the most stressful things around, say authors

THE arrival of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) is one of the most stressful events a family is likely to experience in its lifetime.

And the lack of information on how the process works, adds to the concerns of those affected, according to the authors of A Practical Guide to Compulsory Purchase in Ireland.

The 140-page book, which was written by agricultural consultant and valuer Dick Collins and Noel O’Brien, accountant and tax adviser, was launched in Dublin by Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman of the Supreme Court.

Mr Collins said landown-ers find it difficult to under-stand their compensation entitlements in compulsory acquisition situations.

“In many cases the value of land taken is less than half of the total compensation paid, but the amount individuals get in each case is extremely variable,” he said

Mr Collins, managing director of Farm Business Advisers, Fermoy, Co Cork, said in general the compensation code for road schemes is fair, particularly for those that qualify under the December 2001 agreement between the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Government.

However, Mr Collins, who is a founding member and past president of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA), criticised the ESB’s treatment of landowners where high voltage power lines were erected on farms.

“In my view the compensation paid to landowners for high voltage powerlines and pylons on their farms, particularly in recent years, is totally inadequate, having regard to the impact these structures have on the value of holdings” he said.

Noel O’Brien, managing partner of accountancy firm Collins O’Brien, said from a landowners’ perspective, the abolition of rollover relief from capital gains tax is inequitable as regards compulsory acquisition.

The relief, which was abolished in 2002 was a fair way of overcoming the anomaly where the landowner has to give back 22% of the compensation in tax without having the opportunity to reinvest the compensation.

In other words, a landowner who receives a CPO has no choice but to sell the land and is therefore in a different category to a vendor in a normal commercial transaction.