Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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9. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the number of houses in County Wexford that have their own septic tank unit; if he is satisfied with the number of inspections carried out by the local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29011/15]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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It is nearly two years since we were arguing with the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Commissioner Phil Hogan, about septic tanks. One day I tried to pin him down and asked him how many septic tanks would be inspected. He said that one in eight would probably be inspected. I asked about the other seven. Whatever about inspecting the other seven, the inspection of one in eight is a long way off also. We have serious problems. If the Government is genuinely concerned about the water table, it will have to review the scheme.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I was not present for the debate but I am sure I can access the record of it. Census 2011, published by the Central Statistics Office, indicates there were 21,242 septic tanks and 4,369 individual treatment systems in County Wexford in 2011. Those are the facts.

The Environmental Protection Agency is the supervisory body for the purpose of meeting the objectives of the National Inspection Plan 2015-2017: Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems. The plan is managed and implemented by the local authorities. The plan underpins the risk-based inspection of septic tanks and other on-site treatment systems. My Department does not have any direct role in monitoring the implementation of the EPA's plan by the local authorities . However, the plan has been drawn up to best international standards and I am satisfied the risk-based inspection system is consistent with the necessity to ensure compliance with the provisions of the EU waste directive and the European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland in October 2009. It also has regard to the European Parliament and Council’s recommendations of 4 April 2001 regarding the minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the member states.

Inspections are objective, evidence based and aimed at identifying septic tanks and similar treatment systems that are a risk to public health or the environment. The EPA has set the minimum number of inspections to be carried out in the years 2015 to 2017 at 1,000 nationally per annum. It is important to note this is the recommended minimum number and there is nothing preventing a local authority from carrying out more inspections than the recommended minimum should it consider it necessary or appropriate to do so.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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In Wexford, there are two members of staff working on this. The local authority inspected 54 tanks in the first year and it hopes to inspect 104 this year. At this rate, it will take over 200 years to inspect all septic tanks. I said initially and it is a fact that half the tanks in Wexford are faulty. Therefore, we are poisoning the water table. This system must change. At present, one cannot request an inspection even if one knows there is a problem with it, and third party complaints are being ignored. If one carries out the work oneself, one cannot apply for a grant retrospectively. The fact is that if one is not on the council system, one cannot possibly qualify for a grant. This is not a good structure and the Minister would find it hard to stand over it. He did not invent it and I am not saying it is his fault, but I believe a new structure needs to be put in place. The contamination of the water table is a serious issue. The Department of Health should be seriously concerned about it.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy. I remember the debate on this although I was not centrally involved. There were many Deputies in the House who opposed the inspection process, although I am not saying Deputy Wallace did. The plan is in place and it predates my term of office, but I now have responsibility for it. There is an agreed plan in place for the period 2015 to 2017. As part of that, we will be reviewing in 2016 how it will work from the following year onwards. I am certainly committed to this analysis.

The 1,000 inspections resulted in no issues in approximately half the cases. Of the 500 odd with issues, half had only sludging issues or small issues. The remainder have some work to be done. These are rough figures.

There is a plan in place for the period 2015 to 2017 and it is evidence based. With regard to considering changes, I agree with the Deputy regarding self-referrals to local authorities from 2017. Local authorities can inspect more tanks than the designated minimum.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Is the Minister telling me that if Wexford local authority wants more staff to work in this area, the State will cover the cost? I believe the local authority would inspect more septic tanks if it had them. Let me outline a big problem with the evidence-based system. Many tanks built in the early years — I built many of them — were built according to the planning conditions laid down and agreed by the local authority but they are not right. We have built many of the tanks incorrectly but we did not know at the time.

In the past few years, the raised-bed idea was introduced. The idea behind this was that one would import soil that could actually take the bacteria out of the water before it reached the water table. However, one needs good quality topsoil to take the bacteria out of the water. Good topsoil was very expensive and importing it was even more expensive. Transport is even more expensive than the soil itself. This meant people did not import the soil and instead created a raised bed with the soil already in the land. Was that cheating? It was, but the practice was prevalent. I know for a fact that there are many cases of it in Wexford. Those concerned will not even be caught in the risk-based assessment. A lot of thinking must be done on this. The Government will have to spend more on it or we will continue to have a contaminated water table, which I believe is directly linked to the high rate of cancer in Ireland.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Deputy made many comments. Given his previous occupation, he has much direct evidence and knowledge of this subject.

The plan that is in place has been signed up to for 2015 to 2017. I am not afraid of change or of looking at some things a second or third time. I am not that type of person. I am committed to dealing with issues if I see them.

The Deputy asked a specific question about resources. I have allocated almost 350 staff across local authorities over recent months. If there is a specific issue relating to perceived water contamination in some counties and they look for resources, I must look at that. If the Deputy tells me or the local authority writes to me to say it believes it needs additional resources because of concerns it has, I must look at that. That goes for any local authority. If it is perceived there is a particular issue in a region or location such as the south east and if the local authorities make a submission to me, I must consider it.