Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I wish to make a point on the fifth group amendments. I confess to not having read the amendments in detail but I have listened carefully to the debate. Is it intended to do anything about individual sewage treatment facilities such as septic tanks and other devices? The very least that should be done is that people would be required to get these tanks cleaned regularly. It is my understanding that it is a rare enough event for a domestic septic tank to be cleaned. That was fine when there was only one house and a large area to absorb it but if houses are being built in large numbers in rural areas, each with a septic tank, groundwater pollution will become a problem. The simple solution is to require people to have these facilities cleaned regularly.