Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

This issue is frightening for my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan and other areas such as County Leitrim where soil types are difficult. I am glad to hear the Minister mention that developments such as reed bed technology can be extremely successful, as they have been beside my home. We must be given a commitment that nothing will be done that will make housing impossible in rural areas. Houses in my parish of Aghabog and similar places have been there for generations. The real problem is in areas such as Castleblayney where 700 houses have been built and connected with an existing sewage treatment plant that is incapable of dealing with it. It is going directly into the lake. That is also the situation in several other areas. We should not seek to concentrate on the small person and ignore the issues that we, as legislators, and the Government should deal with.

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