Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that in rural areas there is no choice but to have a septic tank and it is important that we assist people as much as possible to fix those tanks. However, another situation has arisen that I have raised with the Department and the Minister previously. We have urban areas that were once rural. A town has grown and enveloped what was once a rural area. We have houses in my town, Bray, and I am sure in many towns in the constituencies of other Deputies, which are still on septic tanks, although there is a mains network nearby. It is expensive for householders to pay for the infrastructure to be brought to the house. They do not have any problem with paying the connection fee, like everyone else, but the infrastructure can be quite large. I hope the Minister of State will take the matter back to consider whether there is a scheme under which we could help people whose houses that were once rural - they were out in the countryside but the town has grown - to connect to the mains system which may now be close to their homes.

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