Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

The Bill will impose a €50 registration charge on householders. The Bill is being sold by saying, "What's €50? The registration charge is only €50. No one has anything to worry about." That is what has been coming from the Government and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. That is the least draconian measure in the Bill.

The first inspection is free so the inspector will visit a site to assess whether or not a septic tank meets the required standard. I understand the standard will be based on the 2009-2010 EPA guidelines. Essentially that means, for example, that for everyone living in a house one needs an 18-metre percolation pipe running from the septic tank. In other words, if one has a four-bedroom house, and the EPA guidelines state there are eight people living there, one will need 144 m of pipe running from the septic tank to create the appropriate required percolation area. Those pipes will have to be 2 m apart and come in six-foot lengths. They must also be 10 m away from any county road and 20 m from the house. Any quarter or half-acre site with a four-bedroom house will not be able to meet those criteria. One may argue that one can put in a treatment plant but it also requires a percolation area. How will householders on a small site be expected to meet the criteria? In addition, if the site's soil quality is poor it can pose a problem. In my own constituency there are many sites where the soil, according to industrial experts, would not meet the required standards. Such people will then be forced to extract the soil from the site and replace it with more suitable soil that can create a better percolation area. What will that cost?

The financial breakdown of the Bill being cost neutral is unclear. If it is cost neutral then who will pay for the first inspection charge? The householder will pay €200 for the second inspection charge, while subsequent inspection charges will be free. If the Bill is cost neutral, however, who will pay for the inspection charges other than the second one? Perhaps the Minister can outline how the Bill is perceived to be cost neutral in that regard.

Opposition Senators, and Deputy Ó Cuív, our deputy party leader, were accused of scare-mongerging about the costs associated with sites. That is quite unbelievable because the RIAI report, attached with the legislation, which comes from the Oireachtas Library, clearly states that the costs associated with upgrading a septic tank could be in the region of €17,000. We were talking about €12,000 but the RIAI is talking about €17,000.