WHEN Tom Flatley finally got planning permission for his family home in Co Galway he didn't know that just 50 yards away another house was being demolished following years of irreversible flood damage.

And when, in November last year, the floods finally came and wiped away his own property, Flatley began to ask why planners never warned him of the threat.

Now, faced with mounting bills and no prospect of securing further flood insurance, he and his family are preparing to bring their fight for relocation to Europe.

The Flatleys' predicament is just the latest to arise following a spate of planning decisions that have allowed construction in areas prone to flooding.

"Like most lay people we assumed that the planning process would take in a place that had regularly flooded for the last 50 years," Flatley told the Sunday Tribune from his now rented accommodation.

"There was an old house there from the '30s about 50 yards up the road which had flooded repeatedly, and after the '95 floods the couple that owned it insisted on relocation.

"Their struggle went on for years and the house was finally demolished in 2001 under an Office of Public Works [OPW] relocation scheme. That was very close to the time when we got our planning permission.

"That is a complete contradiction; it's blatant negligence."

The Flatleys now face a dilemma – do they use the insurance payout to repair their two homes (the other is rented out) and risk further flooding next winter, without insurance cover; or do they continue their fight for relocation?

The family bought the initial home in 2001 and were twice refused planning permission to do it up before finally getting the go-ahead. But they believe the process is deeply flawed and allows those without local knowledge to become unsuspecting victims.

"No problems or issues were raised at any stage in relation to flooding," he said.

"Ignorance was bliss for a long time; we had no knowledge of what had happened there in the past."

Flatley also claims that the area was identified as vulnerable in a 1997 Galway flood report commissioned by the OPW, and yet still the family were allowed to settle.

After last year's flooding they waited 173 days for inspectors from a joint OPW/council working body to come and inspect the damage. That body said there was no solution to the problem. The family then employed a solicitor to obtain a copy of the 1997 report.

When minister of state at the Department of Finance Martin Mansergh, who oversees the OPW, came to visit the area, there was genuine hope he could offer a solution. "He said to me: 'From what I hear, you and your family are deserving of some kind of relocation. But if we give it to you we have to give it to everyone,'" recalled Flatley. "Is that a good enough reason to leave us in this situation? I don't think so."

A spokesman for the minister said he didn't recall the exact nature of his conversation with Flatley but confirmed that there was no relocation policy in place.

"Emergency humanitarian considerations will be addressed by the Department of Social Protection," he said.

Flatley hopes to bring his case before Europe in the coming weeks.