The floods in Ireland may be starting to subside but the anger of those affected by them is rising.

RTE programme Frontline exposed the truth of the awful planning decisions that led to thousands of homes being built on flood plains in the madness that was the property boom. No account seemed to have been taken by the county councils and borough councils of the consequences down the road of covering flood plains with concrete.  These bodies employ engineers to advise them of such risks in planning applications. Did they ignore their advice or were the engineers complicit in going along with the decisions?

The local elected county councillers do not have the power to grant planning, but they have, and had, the authority to rezone lands that were grossly unsuitable for building houses or commercial developments. What is the future for those thousands of householders and businesses now ruined because of the flooding? Do they clean up and wait for the next one?

Whilst those who have their homes and businesses insured this time will be compensated, you can be sure that the insurance companies will not renew their policy next time, as their area will be deemed a flood risk.  This leaves unfortunate home owners unable to insure their property and unable to sell it because nobody will buy, and no bank will give a mortgage on a flood risk home.

The financial implications for these people are catastrophic. The neglience lies with the local authorities for allowing these disasters to happen. They are to blame  in two ways. Firstly, over the years, they have failed to maintain and dredge the waterways in their areas and secondly, they allowed building on flood plains and low-lying areas against all common sense advice.

It is time for those whose homes and businesses are destroyed to call in the lawyers and start suing en mass.