Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister's public statement of it today, but I want him to state that there will be no cost to anyone who must undertake remedial work to upgrade his or her septic tank. I reaffirm the absolute commitment of every Member who has spoken to good, uncontaminated water. We will support whatever remedial works are necessary to bring that about, but it cannot be at a cost to these people.

Anyone who has applied for planning permission since 1975 has needed to comply with regulations lest the application be refused. People have done everything required of them legally. The regulations and standards have changed significantly since 1975. People were granted permission before 2009, yet that year's standards for septic tanks and percolation systems would render many of them non-compliant. Many people are concerned about this issue and do not know what is coming down the tracks.

I have attended meetings with Deputy Healy-Rae and he can vouch that they were information meetings intended to explain the legislation. They were necessary to assure people. We are arguing these points because we engaged with the public. We spoke with people who would be the victims of what was coming down the tracks, given the possibility of remedial works to their septic tanks. We are bringing our experience to the Minister, just as the people from Galway and Connemara are doing.

We need to get to the bottom of the issue. Central to this is the question of what is meant by "no financial hardship". Who determines what it is? The easiest, simplest and most honest approach would be for the Minister to put in place a grant procedure to cover all necessary remedial works. On this and Committee Stage, the Minister stated that only a small number of septic tanks, as low as 10%, would need to be upgraded. Compared with the moneys that taxpayers have contributed to upgrading treatment plants, 10% is a very small amount. According to Deputy Mulherin, €3 million was spent on upgrading Galway's water treatment services following the outbreaks of recent years. Apparently, a good job has been done.

The main polluters are local authorities. I know this personally. I am certain the Minister will make available to local authorities whatever money is necessary to upgrade their treatment plants to the required standards, yet there is no mention on the record or in the legislation of what the Minister will make available to the ordinary citizen of rural Ireland.

"No financial hardship" is a throw-away remark that needs to be clarified. When the Minister rises, I hope he will tell the House that it means the cost of remedial works will be grant-aided in full. It would be necessary. The Minister stated that the 2009 standards would not apply, but will the applicable standards be below the 2009 levels? If so, will we be open to a concerned citizen or group taking a challenge to Europe, a year or two after which we will be back here facing the threat of more fines?

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