A Supreme Court judgment has overturned a Court of Appeal decision in respect of severe flooding at UCC in November 2009.

The joint judgment of Chief Justice Frank Clarke and Justice John MacMenamin finds that the ESB has liability for flood damage to the campus and that it was in breach of its duty of care to the college.

“For the reasons also analysed in this judgment, we have concluded that the ESB was in breach of that duty of care,” the ruling says.

Dams

At issue was the ESB's hydroelectric dams on the River Lee and whether the dam management led to flooding of 29 buildings on the UCC campus.

The matter of any contributory negligence by UCC will return to the High Court for a decision on how much of the damage could be linked to the negligence of the ESB.

The claim was brought by UCC on behalf of Aviva insurance company.

In 2015, the High Court ruled that the ESB was 60% liable in respect of flooding and warnings.

Court of Appeal

That decision was subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal.

In yesterday’s ruling the Supreme Court found that the ESB had a duty of care to “landowners and occupiers downstream of the Lee dams”.

The ruling continues that the ESB had a "special and substantial" level of control that would enable it to prevent or reduce harm arising from a flood danger.

The ruling also found that the ESB had the know-how to weigh up the potential flooding effects and should have had regard to the interests of those downstream.