Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. Dr. Ryan said the ET system does a very good job in general, but he has particular issues around E. coli and how it can be dealt with. Are there possibilities there? Many systems in the past have had a polishing element at the end which eliminates E.coli. Does Dr. Ryan think it would be possible to add a polishing system to ET systems in order to do that, or does he believe further refinement and research on the ET system on its own may be able to achieve a reduction to negligible levels that will not have an impact?

Mr. Ó Coigligh mentioned that the Minister might regulate this when the doors are fully opened and pulled back a bit. The intention is for the Minister to set out very strict regulations which would ensure the impact on the environment is eliminated. The difficulty we have is with the zero discharge element. Even with collaboration and the good work that has been done by Leitrim County Council, the EPA and others, we will come to a stage where, while the discharge will be extremely small, will have been reduced considerably and will be of a very high standard which will have zero impact in the future, we will still have discharge. Mr. Ó Coigligh says there may be another way to deal with that discharge, other than putting a licence in place. Can he explain to me where that may arise from, or if it is possible?

Mr. Gilhooly referred to the soil types in Leitrim, of which a large quantity are impermeable, and so we seldom have many areas there which are borderline. Moving from a T 90 to a T 120 will make no difference in the vast majority of cases, and that is the reality because we have very few borderline cases. In that context, if we are going to try to achieve as close to zero discharge as possible, with zero impact, how long will it take to finish that research? Dr. Ryan mentioned that it might take a couple of seasons. Considering the volume of work that has already been done, could we come to this quickly? I am conscious of the sense of panic, and of real frustration, that exists both in Leitrim and in many rural communities, where people feel they are being shut down and that nobody cares about them. We need to deal with this. I feel frustrated that we have been looking for solutions for ten years, and people are saying it is a shame on our houses that we could not come up with a solution to this sooner. We need to put an intense focus on this in order to get a solution in place as quickly as possible. Perhaps Mr. Gilhooly could outline an appropriate timeframe to come to a solution here. It is important that we have the technology right and we feel the solution can work, but we also need to ensure the legislation and regulations are in place in advance, so people can move on the solution as soon as it is reached.