Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Therein lies the problem. The Department increased the grant from €5,000 to a maximum of €12,000 and they do not have to be registered but getting a grant is the issue. I had a lady last week on to my office. She was in a bad way with her septic tank, rang the county council and was told she was not in the right geographical area. That is ridiculous.

I question the Minister of State's figure of 160,000 tanks. I would say it is double or treble that. I live in the country and work in that area and I know every house in the country has to have a septic tank because there is no sewerage. Even many towns and villages do not have the sewerage connections. I question that figure strongly.

The geographical areas have to be expanded. To great fanfare the increase in the funding was announced last November but if people are not eligible to get it, it sticks in their craws. There is spin by Government in relation to many issues. There are big announcements but you do not even have to go into the fine print to see there are huge swathes of the country where you cannot apply for this funding. They have not been inspected by the council. Will the Minister of State give an answer on how many inspections have taken place in each county in the years since it came in? I believe it is very few.

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