Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)

This Bill is required by a European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland in respect of treatment of waste water from septic tanks. As a result of this case, Ireland faces a potential lump-sum fine of €2.6 million as well as daily fines of €26,000 as the non-compliance continues. As an economy we cannot afford that.

It is worth recalling that the previous Government made commitments on this issue. The renewed programme for Government between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party had a commitment that they would introduce a scheme for the licensing and inspection of septic tanks and waste water treatments. Ireland is now facing the imposition of substantial penalties and fines from the European Court of Justice and the European Commission has lodged an application to the court last July in this respect. We are in this situation due to the lack of priority given to the matter by the previous Government whereas this Government has acted decisively in the matter.

Poorly managed septic tanks can pollute the environment with harmful substances such as E. coli. The new legislation seeks to enhance and protect public health and the environment, which will in turn benefit rural dwellers in terms of a better quality of life and better water quality. In 2010, a HSE survey of private well quality in counties Sligo and Leitrim revealed a rate of 76% non-compliance with standards required under the drinking water regulations of 2007. Faecal contamination, particularly of groundwater, has previously been highlighted in a number of reports by the EPA. Septic tanks and other onsite waste water treatment plants, along with organic farm waste, have been identified as the most likely causes of E. coli contamination.

The bill sets out certain duties applying to householders with septic tanks, who would be obliged to register and ensure their septic tanks do not pose a risk to the environment. Water service authorities are to maintain a register of the septic tank holders and, on the sale of premises, the Bill envisages that a certification of registration must be produced and that the new owners must then notify the appropriate water services authority of the change of ownership. Inspectors appointed by the EPA are to carry out a regime of inspections and notify the relevant water services authority if there are breaches of any regulations issued under the Water Services Act 2007 or if the septic tank poses any risk to the environment.

Inspections may give rise to householders being advised to improve the maintenance of their systems or, indeed, upgrade or remediate the treatment system. The registration fee is likely to be approximately €50, to be paid every five years. The revenue from this registration fee will fund the inspection regime.

With regard to water services generally, I wish to make a number of additional points which I believe are critical. There is an ongoing water supply problem, with outages, in the Portmarnock of my Dublin North-East constituency. The issue relates to the delay in construction of a new reservoir at Seamount, Malahide, which will serve Malahide, Portmarnock and Kinsealy. It should have been in place by now but there is a long-drawn-out dispute over way leave. I request the Minister to ask whether that dispute can be resolved with a timescale for completion of this badly needed reservoir be provided.

It is reported in today's press that Dublin City Council has stated 150,000 homes in the Dublin and Wicklow area could be left without drinking water if an unstable 19th century water tunnel collapses. The council is quoted as stating that the Vartry water tunnel "could suffer a partial or total collapse at any point in time", which could have a further knock-on effect in the greater Dublin and Leinster area. Dublin City Council stated it would not be in a position to build a replacement tunnel until 2013. This situation, therefore, needs to be urgently addressed by Government.

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