asked the Minister for Finance whether he is aware of the serious damage done by flooding to the crops of over 30 small farmers of Cloone, Mohill, County Leitrim, and that full details of their losses were forwarded, with a request for compensation, to his Department by the Cloone Parish Council; and if he will now state what steps will be taken (a) to compensate the farmers concerned for their losses, and (b) to have the drainage of the area carried out by the Drainage Board to which these farmers pay an annual levy.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Leitrim Flooding.
No request for compensation or details of losses alleged to have been sustained by small farmers in the Cloone area by damage to their crops by flooding have been received from the Cloone Parish Council. A copy of a resolution adopted at a meeting of farmers held in Cloone in September last has, however, been received in which it was indicated that flooding had occurred in the area causing damage to crops, requesting that a grant be made available for drainage work, and urging that men employed on road work should be transferred to drainage work in the Cloone area. As regards (a) there are no funds under the control of the Minister for Finance out of which such compensation could be paid. As regards (b), the duty and power of maintaining the drainage works in the Rinn and Black River Drainage district, which includes the Cloone area, are imposed on trustees appointed by the drainage ratepayers in pursuance of the 1842 Act. The Minister for Finance has no power to compel the trustees to exercise their functions.