Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

I know, I was only winding up the Minister. We welcome the publication of the draft standards, and although they are a bit vague, the language is clear. We will be making a submission on them. Some €2.7 billion was spent between 2000 and 2007 in upgrading urban waste water treatment plants, a process funded by taxpayers in urban and rural areas. Rural householders are now expected to foot the total bill to meet waste water standards. In many cases this will be unworkable, as in 99% of cases these are private houses constructed with loans or mortgages, and many owners may be in negative equity or arrears because of a collapse in income arising from unemployment or the past five austerity budgets.

There is a requirement on the Minister to ensure that we put in place is workable and can be carried out. We must ensure that people will comply and protect ground-water. We do not want to see people being dragged through the courts because they cannot pay for this.

We can learn from last night's debate on turf cutting. That was not a climb-down by the Government but rather the Government taking a great initiative to put a good plan in place. If we approach this issue similarly, engage and listen to people in order to find compromise, and if we apply the draft standards on a risk-based approach, the number of septic tanks requiring expensive repair would be modest. Will the Minister put in place the necessary financial measures to enable people in this process?

See this speech in context