Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The Deputy and his Government were doing something about it. Proposals were brought as far as Cabinet. I read them earlier for the benefit of other Deputies but I will give Deputy Ó Cuív a flavour of what was involved here. The Deputy and his Government said at the time that, arising from a consultation in October-November 2010, where his Government had committed to file a defence with the European Court of Justice arising from that judgment or else fines would have been imposed, the new system would set out the duties and responsibilities of householders regarding their on-site waste water treatment systems and would require householders to have their on-site systems assessed to ensure those systems were being operated and maintained correctly. Second, it would specify the frequency at which these assessments would be carried out. Third, it would require householders to take any remedial action necessary to bring their on-site waste water treatment systems up to required standards and the timelines within which such works were to be undertaken. When it came to the standards, the Deputy said that they must comply with the EPA code of practice for waste water treatment and disposal systems serving single houses dated October 2009.

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