Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Martin Kenny on the Bill he has put forward. We, in rural areas, understand where he is coming from. We all see week in, week out, the problems that counties, especially in the west, incur.

In considering the current regulation, to put it simply, I would say the law is an ass. If one has an old house in the west, especially in Leitrim, and one goes to do it up, and part of the planning permission relates to the septic tank. If it is a reed bed system, the permission is accepted but if one has to build a new house, it is not accepted. I would like to know what genius came up with that.

I have worked on this around the country. In Monaghan and elsewhere, even on a large scale, one of the most successful percolating systems is the reed bed system. A group of so-called "experts" is not needed to examine this for another year. The Government's amendment is an insult to Deputy Martin Kenny's proposal because this has proved itself down through the years on both a large scale and a small scale.

People test the water where it comes out of the reed bed system or what we would call, "sallies". Some like to put a fancy name on it such as willow. Where the water comes out, it is better quality than bathing water. Those are the facts, according to the experts who have tested the water. Funnily enough, another group does not want to believe that.

This comes at a time - I want the Minister of State, Deputy English, to hear me out because he is involved in the rural water schemes that they are looking at - the EPA has taken Irish Water to court. Irish Water has been fined €6,000, €8,000 and €10,000, respectively, for not putting in sewerage systems in towns. At the same time, Irish Water submitted applications to make those systems better. Let us remember that when these companies fine each other, it is all taxpayers' money. The EPA is hedging for the past year on deciding whether it will award an outflow licence. I have seen a situation in Glenamaddy, County Galway where there is a new upgrade being done and the discharge licence is out. One must bear in mind that, whether the environmentalists like it, 50% of the water we extract comes from designated areas and 50% of our output through toilets and sewers will have to go into designated areas. The EPA is imposing stipulations that one might have to bring a pipe seven miles down the road when one has an outflow beside it, and one is bringing the quality of the treatment from zero at present to 97% purification. The EPA seems to be a body that is accountable to nobody and it needs to be reined in.

As was pointed out earlier there might be a theory in Dublin 4 or Dublin generally that it could end up that we would have the half-door to welcome tourists and the west would be a wilderness. The dream is to go down on a Friday evening and return on Sunday, and spend the weekend surfing and walking. They are welcome, by the way, but we have to make a living and work in those areas.

There are rules. A document issued by the EPA in the past few weeks stated there were 30 places where raw sewage was being discharged. The agency does not know how to count because there are more smaller towns involved. Funding is needed. Communities will help the Government in this regard but someone needs to talk to the EPA. When one is trying to solve a problem, and the likes of Irish Water has plans in place, the EPA brings it to court. Someone needs to call a halt to this craic. Irish Water is dragged through the court using the money required for some of these schemes. Every €6,000 fine means less will be done.

Throughout the west, there is good quality land and marginal land. This is a solution that should be put out in place because it has been proven. People have been brought in busloads to the plant in Monaghan, and other plants around the country, to see the way they work. The Bill offers a common-sense solution and will make the quality of water better. At the same time, in that same county, a helicopter flies around the place spreading fertiliser for forestry that, it has been proven, damages water. The Government might think that it will get away with having spruce on every road and no people, but there will be a revolt.

There is time yet before the vote. I ask the Minister of State to withdraw the amendment. I am sick of hearing that this will happen in 2019 and waiting another year.

We are trying to ensure people live in rural areas, which is not that simple, to make villages sustainable. They need whatever help they can get. This is a proactive legislation that Deputy Martin Kenny has brought forward to solve an issue for people who want to build new houses in their areas. Is the dream to refuse planning permission in all rural areas, push people into the cities, build more ghettos and have no one in rural areas? It is unacceptable. The vote on this Bill will prove that common-sense legislation is backed in this House.

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