Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to make a few points before the witnesses respond. First, do we know what impact the surface water accessing wastewater treatment plant has on the plants? If it is having a significant impact is there any way of mitigating it?

The witnesses mentioned a wastewater treatment plant in my constituency, Arklow. I suppose they are right, that was not a result of lack of investment. It was a result of a process dragged through the national and European courts. It begs a question because that case has gone on for 20 years. One individual has held up the common good of Arklow because the person has the financial resources to drag a wastewater treatment plant through the national and European courts. I appreciate Irish Water has moved the site and is now entering a new process which we hope will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála at the end of this year but that individual is sitting there and I live in fear for the people of Arklow that the common good is not outweighed by the rights of an individual. I have some reservations.

We mentioned sustainable funding a few times. With the loss of domestic water revenue, there are two other sources available: commercial water in and out and connection fees for connection to wastewater treatment plants. We know there are multiple tariffs for them because Irish Water inherited the local authority regime. Is there any proposed harmonisation process whereby there will be a national tariff for commercial water in and out and one for connection fees to wastewater treatment plants?

In respect of the EPA, we mentioned Gweedore not being under its control because they are individual septic tanks and we mentioned the national inspection plan. Who monitors that plan? Is it monitored by the local authority? Does the EPA have any role in seeing how it is rolled out and kept up to date?

While, rightly, we focussed attention on the 127 non-compliant plants, are we monitoring the remaining 870-odd wastewater treatment plants? Do we have warning systems to ensure another ten, 15 or 20 are not added to that list annually because we are not investing in mitigation?

To start on the infringement process, I suppose it is no surprise to anyone. This directive came in many decades ago. The legislation in 2007 on licensing these wastewater treatment plants was the direct result of an infringement against this directive. As regards communications, it is important to state the EPA is an independent agency. It provides its own independent data and reports. Those reports, along with periodic requests from the Commission directly to the member state, quite often form the basis of the source of data it would use to determine whether or not the directive is being complied with.