John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 48 and 88 together.

The European Court of Justice recently ruled that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4 and 8 of the 1975 waste directive as regards domestic wastewaters disposed of in the countryside through septic tanks and other individual wastewater treatment systems. The renewed programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce a scheme for the licensing and inspection of septic tanks and other on-site wastewater treatment systems. My Department which has established a task force to consider the matter will develop proposals to give effect to this commitment and respond in full to the court judgment. The Department's initial assessment is that compliance with the ruling will require new legislation that will set standards for the performance of all individual wastewater treatment systems, provide for periodic inspection by a competent person, establish penalties for non-compliance and provide for corrective measures where a system is found to be defective. My Department is required to submit to the European Commission by the end of December formal proposals on how it proposes to achieve compliance with the judgment and to set out a timeframe for compliance.

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