Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

It is good that there is someone in the Chamber who knows something about this issue.

I wish to provide some background information. Within the dimensions of the Chamber one could have a house located where the Acting Chairman is sitting, a septic tank located where the Clerk is sitting, a soak pit where the Labour Party Deputies sit and a watercourse at the boundary of the Chamber. Deputies, particularly those who live in rural areas, will be familiar with systems in which the effluent runs from the house into a septic tank, from which the overflow runs into the soak pit, from which the overflow runs into the watercourse. Such systems operate to pre-1963 standards, but many of those put in place in the 1980s are similar and I accept action must be taken in respect of them. However, last year the Minister informed me in this House that once a system worked, it was okay. One could state a system such as that to which I refer is working. While it is working, however, it is also giving rise to pollution.

We cannot inform people that they will be obliged to upgrade their system and meet the standards that will be set down. The Minister knows as well as I do that such standards will be stringent. The Bill proposes the insertion of a new section 70K into the principal Act:

70K.—(1) The Agency shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this section, but not later than such date as may be prescribed, make a national plan (in this Part referred to as 'the national inspection plan') with regard to the inspection and monitoring of domestic waste water treatment systems.

(2) When making the national inspection plan, the Agency shall have regard to—

(a) relevant risks or potential risks to human health or the environment, and, in particular—

(i) risks to water, air or soil, or to plants and animals,

(ii) nuisances through noise or odours, and

(iii) risks to the countryside or places of special interest,

(b) relevant available information in relation to specific types and locations of domestic waste water treatment systems,

(c) appropriate and specific qualitative and quantitative criteria, targets and indicators for inspections, and

(d) any incidental or ancillary matters or such matters as may be prescribed by the Minister.

This is a wide-ranging provision which I will not discuss in detail at this point. I understand what is envisaged in the Bill must be done. However, the agency to which the new section refers, namely, the Environmental Protection Agency, will ensure both the legislation and the regulations that will emerge on foot of its enactment will be complied with to the letter. These are the facts. The new section 70I states, "The Agency shall supervise a water services authority in the performance of such of its functions as the Agency considers appropriate".

See this speech in context