Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on the Bill and I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for bringing it forward. The Bill aims to resolve problems around planning permission in County Leitrim, south Sligo, north Roscommon and south Donegal following strict changes in Environmental Protection Agency rules on water pollution. These changes have had a disproportionate impact on planning permissions in County Leitrim and the other counties I referenced because of the heavy soil there. The guidelines were adopted as part of several measures to prevent ground water pollution from septic tanks but they are stopping local people from building one-off houses in their local areas. In fact, the strict rules on effluent treatment have particularly stalled the construction of one-off housing in these counties.

This Bill puts forward a change to EPA rules to allow for the granting of a discharge licence for the development of single houses in rural areas that fail the water percolation test. The Bill will forward a viable alternative engineering solution rather than the current blanket ban. The Bill would mean high environmental standards can be met without recourse to the current blanket ban. The homes will have to get a licence and put in place a wastewater treatment system. Currently, people cannot get planning permission at all due to the percolation test. In total, 87% of Leitrim land does not meet EPA T-test standards so families and couples hoping to develop family farms and build on their family land are unable to do so. All farmers are desperate to build on their family land and it is important for the proper running of the farm that they are living on the land.

In 2016, there were 22 planning permissions for houses granted in Leitrim. In 2017, only 21 houses were granted planning permission. In the first quarter of this year only one house was granted planning permission and in the second quarter there were five successful applications. That is a total of six planning permissions in six months.

More and more of our young people are finding they can no longer live in the areas of rural Leitrim they grew up in. Our communities schools shops and accompanying infrastructure are suffering as a result. We know about the housing shortages. The person who wants to build a house but who cannot get planning will end up eventually, as most do, on a housing list somewhere else. Unfortunately, this policy has impacted particularly on the counties I have mentioned because of the soil types there. The current EPA guidelines state that if the percolation test fails, there must be zero discharge of effluent. This is impossible to achieve and results in a blanket ban on planning permission. This has had a major impact in particular in areas of heavy soil. Such areas are far more likely to fail the test. Consequently, single homes have been particularly difficult to build in Leitrim and other areas in the other counties I have mentioned. In consequence, we have seen a whittling away of the population and communities have been undermined.

This part of the EPA guidelines rules out all reasonable engineering solutions or proposals to treat and dispose of the sewage effluent where it fails the T-test, regardless of how high the treatment standard proposed. However, the EPA guidelines also state that where the test fails, the local authority can issue a wastewater discharge licence. The interpretation of legislation on discharge licences is that they are for multiple houses, such as a small housing estate of six dwellings, and allow for the discharge of over 5 cu. m a day. The Bill puts forward an amendment to the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977 to change this. EPA officials, planning and environmental experts in local authorities and private practice agree on the appropriateness of a discharge licence for single houses where percolation tests fail. There are already provisions for a licence but it only applies to multiple homes rather than single units. The Bill expands this to encompass one-off rural homes, which are a key part of the physical infrastructure of rural Ireland. The licence can be designed specifically for single houses, where the conditions could include installing a mechanical sewage treatment system, from which effluent would pass through a polishing filter and be discharged into a reed bed and willow pond.

Fianna Fáil will support this Bill on Second Stage in order to further tease out these issues on Committee Stage and to ensure that EU standards are maintained in order to find a route towards planning permissions for the many people unable to get it at the moment. We appreciate that it is critical that the changes do not compromise core environmental standards. These issues can be teased out and clarified on Committee Stage. Supporting the Bill on Second Stage will enable this to happen; we can then get legal and technical experts to discuss the Bill in more detail. Furthermore, any weaknesses in the Bill can be amended on Committee Stage to ensure it is of top quality.

It is very important for the future of rural Ireland that people are allowed to live in their local areas. I understand that the EPA is carrying out a review at the moment, but I do not believe Fianna Fáil will agree with this amendment because it seeks merely to kick the can down the road. Six applications for planning permission were granted in my county in the first six months of this year. That is totally unacceptable.

On costs, a figure of €50,000 for planning per dwelling is being spoken about at the moment. It is truly criminal to ask that people pay that amount of money. I understand that Northern Ireland has found a solution to the problem of planning issues with septic tanks. Rural people are allowed to get planning there. We should look at the system in the North because what is happening here is unfair.

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