Flooding query reveals Land Commission trust fund legacy
Farmland at Ballysteen, Askeaton, Co Limerick, is being flooded and Limerick West Fianna Fail TD John Cregan raised the issue in the Dail, when he urged the Land Commission to arrange to have remedial works carried out on lands to prevent the flooding.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan said that as successor to the Irish Land Commission, her Department does not have responsibility for the maintenance, repair or restoration of river banks, embankments or other works to prevent flooding.
But she confirmed that while responsibility for such works normally rests with the property owner, the Irish Land Commission retained a portion of the purchase money due to former owners of certain estates acquired by the State for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of embankments on them.
Minister Coughlan said the retained funds were entrusted to the public trustee, who is now an officer of her Department.
The public trustee has responsibility for the investment of these funds and the income earned may be applied for the specific purposes described in the trust deed for each estate.
If the lands in question are located in an area subject to a trust fund, the persons concerned should contact the public trustee at her Department’s office in Cavan.
In certain circumstances, assistance to combat flooding may be also available from the County Council or the Office of Public Works, the Minister said.
