Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. I will begin by acknowledging some of the contributions from the other side of the House. It is important that we have ongoing engagement and proactive discussions. This issue is creating a great deal of fear among the public. In my own constituency, that fear was facilitated by obvious scaremongering during the summer, with inaccurate talk of a €300 yearly charge. People's fears must be acknowledged, but we must also consider why they are generally fearful of a scheme such as this.

What it comes down to is that people are concerned about the type of inspection regime that will be imposed. That concern is justified if past performance is a good indicator of future performance in regard to inspection generally, in light of the many directives introduced over many years by the previous Administration. That Government's track record in terms of implementing directives and facilitating inspections, be it in regard to health and safety in hotels and restaurants or various other issues, was in gold star territory. It was top of the class in implementing directives and sending out inspectors to ensure they were enforced. That is why people are afraid. There is a history of champions league-type inspection regimes in this State which earned us a reputation in Europe as top of the class when it came to implementing directives.

We must challenge that type of culture of over-zealous inspection within our public bodies and public governance system. While we can engage on a to and fro basis in this Parliament, we also have a responsibility to change the way governance is conducted in this State, not only from a parliamentary point of view but in terms of the culture. Our over-zealous track record in regard to inspections is the underlying cause of the fear associated with the measure we are discussing today. It is vital that we continue to engage constructively on this issue.

However, we must also acknowledge that we have, in the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, a person in possession of a vital ingredient, which is sometimes alien to many within the body politic, namely, common sense. The Minister is open to suggestion. He wishes to encourage debate. He does not want an over-zealous regime where people are afraid they will have to replace septic tanks which were built in the 1960s or 1970s. If those tank work, they should be okay. That is the type of governance that is required. We must take account of the fear caused by the excessively zealous enforcement of schemes of inspection in the past. A degree of common sense is required. Fortunately, we have a Minister with the necessary qualities to carry this through.

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