Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Section 70L states:

The Minister may, following consultation with the Agency, make regulations for the purposes of this Part, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the regulations may make provision for—

(a) maintenance plans for domestic waste water treatment systems,

(b) performance standards for domestic waste water treatment systems,

(c) standards and procedures to apply in relation to emptying a domestic waste water treatment system and the disposal of the waste water and sludge derived therefrom...

Appendix G of the 2009 document outlines the EPA's prescription for maintenance works.

The Minister will be legally obliged to consult the agency. He knows that when a Minister must legally consult an expert agency such as the EPA, it is at his or her peril - it has been a problem for Ministers in the past - if he or she proposes standards lower than those proposed by the agency. In this case I guarantee, from long experience living in Connemara, that if the Minister proposes lower standards people will be on the next aeroplane to Brussels to complain about him and the European Union will back them.

The reason we are here is the ruling of the European Court of Justice, even though we were tackling in a very systematic way the problem of groundwater pollution by tackling the major sources such as agriculture and municipal wastewater systems. It would be well worth the Minister's while reading the analysis made for me on water quality in Ireland which shows that between 2004 and 2006 municipal sewage discharges were the cause of 18 major incidents. The inclusion of diffuse urban sources brings the number to 20. This concerns the removal of sewage by pipe rather than by tanker. There were no major incidents relating to single houses. Municipal sewage discharges were the cause of 129 incidents involving moderate pollution, while 25 were caused by diffuse urban sources, bringing the combined total to approximately 150. On-site wastewater treatment systems, including industrial systems, were the cause of two incidents involving moderate pollution. Municipal sewage discharges were involved in 160 incidents involving slight pollution, while the total number caused by diffuse urban sources was 177. Domestic and on-site water treatment systems, including industrial systems, accounted for six cases. The Government was investing where the big problems were to be found.

See this speech in context