Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

That remark is a disgrace.

The Minister is right to guillotine the Bill. In light of all the promises he gave when he entered Government, he owes it to the House to answer a number of questions before the Bill is passed. How can he justify charges for people living in rural areas that do not apply to people in urban areas? What are the standards that will apply to septic tanks or disposal systems when inspectors make visits? We need European law to back this up. Will inspectors be covered by their professional indemnity insurance? Will this be challengeable in the European Court of Justice? We need absolute guarantees on these issues.

We also need to see the draft regulations on the maintenance of the systems in question. We need to be given an undertaking that neither planning, environmental screening nor environmental impact analysis will be required for any upgrading of a system. Provision must also be made to give grants of a minimum of 85% to those who have to upgrade their systems. We also need an assurance from the Minister, in law, that, irrespective of the size of a site, no one who has valid planning permission or built a house prior to the enactment of planning legislation will be required to buy additional land to accommodate a system under the upgrade regime the Minister is introducing.

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