Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of this set of amendments is to replace references to obligations on occupiers of a premises under section 69 with references to such obligations applying to persons making or causing a discharge from a premises. A similar amendment has already been inserted into section 66 via amendments Nos. 122 and 123.

Section 69 enables a water services authority to declare a drain to be a sewer for the purposes of requiring a trade effluent licence to be obtained under section 63 regarding any relevant discharge into it. It is based on similar provisions in the Water Pollution Acts, which have been repealed and consolidated in this Bill. In the course of consultations the Department has been advised that the use of the term "occupier" has on occasion caused difficulties under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977. The case of a dispute between a landlord and tenant over who was the rightful legal occupier of a premises is an example. These amendments remove any doubt in that respect and express without equivocation that the obligations under this section apply to the person who is causing the discharge concerned, regardless of any tenancy issues. The revised wording reflects the style of wording in section 63 on the requirement to apply for a licence to discharge trade effluent into a sewer in the first instance. A similar amendment to section 66 concerns associated appeals.