Board acted ultra vires in allocating development funds to farm tourism project

Judicial review – appeal of High Court refusal to quash decision of South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd. to allocate the sum of €20,000 from what are known as LEADER funds to a farm tourism project – Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005 – European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development – whether the Board had departed from the Operating Rules and had taken into account new evaluation criteria which had never previously been published – whether, having regard in particular to the Operating Rules and the Rules of Procedure it was permissible for SKDP in effect to introduce new criteria governing the disbursement of funds by introducing a new ranking system once the extent of the funding shortfall had been realised – whether SKDP were entitled to alter unilaterally the criteria which it had previously published – Board acted ultra vires the terms of the Operating Rules by adopting new criteria which were different to those which had been employed by the Advisory Committee and of which this applicant had no notice – is the applicant entitled to succeed in respect of a legitimate expectations claim – whether the applicant should have exercised the right of appeal – applicant had a perfectly satisfactory appellate remedy available – applicant is entitled to a declaration that the board of the SKDP was not entitled to adopt new criteria at its meeting on the 4th June 2013 – appeal allowed to the extent that declaration is ordered as to the ultra vires of the Board's decision.