Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

I have seen few issues in my years as a political activist that stimulated such debate and passion as this ill-thought out Bill. Meetings with hundreds of people in attendance have been organised to discuss what has become known as the septic tank Bill. People's responses have varied from outright rejection of the Government's proposals to genuine confusion and frustration. The response of the Minister has done little to clarify the situation. Having attended some of those meetings and dealt with constituents' concerns in rural areas, and having read the Bill and all the information available, I am more convinced than ever that the approach of the Government is wrong on this matter.

We in Sinn Féin are fully aware we need to protect the environment and ground water. We fully support the registration of septic tanks and the need to carry out remedial works and upgrades. However, we are proposing a common sense approach on septic tanks. Rural dwellers should not be faced with another stealth tax. Rural Ireland is already trying to cope with huge increases in costs, including two in recent months, namely, increases in public transport costs and the massive increase in fuel costs, some 29% in the case of oil.

Consecutive Governments, including the Government led by Deputy Ó Cuív's party, were fully aware of the situation facing rural Ireland. The facts are that this issue dates back to the 1975 European Council directive on waste which the European Court of Justice ruled in 2009 that Ireland had breached. Not a year has passed since 1975 in which either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and Labour were not in power yet nothing was done about it. Fianna Fáil had almost two years since the court judgment in 2009 to deal with this issue but, in true fashion, it abdicated that responsibility. It is grossly hypocritical of Fianna Fáil Deputies and their entourages to be flapping around the countryside, organising meetings and complaining about this Bill when they themselves are partly to blame for the current crisis in which we find ourselves.

Once again, it is ordinary householders in rural Ireland who are being asked to pay the price for this irresponsibility. Pay the price they will if the Minister has his way, first with a registration fee of €50, then with re-inspection fees of €200 and next, of course, with the massive cost to be borne by ordinary families if they need upgrades or remediation works carried out. Why has a householder to re-register after five years? Given current technology, if something is registered, it remains registered and should not need to be re-registered after five years. We should not see this measure as simply a way of gathering revenue from rural dwellers.

Fine Gael promised the following in its pre-election manifesto:

Fine Gael will tackle leaking septic tanks that pollute our groundwater. We will introduce new regulations and standards to address the serious problems associated with septic tanks. As part of our Home Improvement Scheme we will provide short term finance for septic tank remediation assistance for home owners.

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