Flood victims set to pursue class action
The Irish Examiner has learned that after initial calls in February for all those affected to pool their legal concerns as part of a single case, the Cork Floods Action Committee (CFAC) contacted an international firm to carry out a full review of the likely causes of the floods.
This review, which is being carried out by an unnamed consultancy firm with a base in Ireland, is due to be completed in mid-July and will form the basis of a “class action” case against any state bodies believed to have contributed to the crisis.
The move is the first confirmation of a serious step by the CFAC – which represents more than 1,200 flood victims in the Mardyke, Middle Parish and Victoria Road areas of Cork city – to ensure flood victims are fully compensated for the damage that has been caused.
The group’s legal advisor, Joe Noonan, said the findings will be further adapted when recommendations from the separate Oireachtas Environment Committee report into last November’s floods are made known next month.
However, he confirmed that the CFAC’s independent expert report should be seen as a “precursor” to a multi-million euro law suit by ordinary citizens who are facing rising insurance premium costs, low compensation payments and mounting repair work debt due to the crisis.
“The state of play with regard to settling on legal action is establishing the facts, and to do that we have been receiving advice from suitable experts,” Mr Noonan said.
“Nobody is going to rush to judgment here, but we are establishing a factual matrix and that is likely to be concluded in the next month.
“I would see our report as a precursor to legal action,” he added.
Among the issues the finalised report will focus on are the legal requirements of statutory groups; what those groups did on the night in question and the implications those actions had on the claimant.
The major development came as Oireachtas Environment Committee chairman, Seán Fleming, said the findings of his cross-party group’s own report will almost certainly lead to further legal action.
“They will have to be adjudicated somewhere in the courts. Those who are involved don’t have to accept our findings, but they do have to accept what a judge decides,” he said.
In the eight months since the floods occurred, issues such as 300% increases on insurance premium costs, the deletion of flood damage protection on insurance cover and significant compensation payout delays have been reported by those affected.
Of the Government’s €10 million emergency financial support set aside for flood victims across the country, just over €1.3 million has been provided nationally.
A mere €313,000 of this figure has been handed out to 483 applicants in Cork, representing an average household payment of €648 in an area where the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) estimates up to €145 million in damage has been caused.
State energy firm ESB, which controls the Inniscarra dam, and local authorities Cork City Council and Cork County Council have all denied responsibility for the level of flood damage caused last November.
