Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I have always regarded the Minister as a very sensible and practical man, until I read this legislation. It is obvious that it is based on a desk study. No one in this House would deny that we need to protect our environment. The protection of the health of the population, by ensuring clean water, is absolutely essential. However, the Bill goes beyond what is practical.

Where is the bar being set? The European Court of Justice singled out County Cavan as the only compliant county in the country, based on the 1975 directive. I understand that Cavan was compliant with the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, guidelines of 1999. Now the bar has been raised. As the European Court of Justice has already decided that Cavan is compliant, why has the Minister raised the bar with the new EPA guidelines? Many of those who were compliant with the 1999 standard will not comply with the new requirements.

Our objective is to protect our water. Rather than basing new standards on the inspection of septic tanks, therefore, why not look at water courses, test the quality of the water in them and then go back and ensure that any discharges within the catchment of that water supply are corrected? That would be a more focused approach, rather than the across-the-board, catch-all system which the legislation creates.

The Bill will affect people in the private sector, many of whom may well be distressed financially and in other ways as a consequence. What about our public systems? This is an example of the State pointing the finger at individuals before getting its own house in order. At the beginning of 2008, waste water from 112 locations with a population equivalent of 500 or greater was being discharged, with very basic treatment or none, into estuarial or coastal waters.

A report on urban waste water was published in 2009, based on the years 2006 and 2007. The EPA itself has carried out studies and produced reports on urban areas which show that 66% of all urban sewage treatment plants fail the necessary tests. Having spent €2.7 billion on upgrading the new urban areas wastewater treatment systems, both Dublin and Limerick city failed to meet the criteria. Why are we going after people in rural Ireland who are the backbone of our country, work hard and subscribe to the economy and targeting them for something that, in many instances, will be impossible to comply with?

There is no provision in the Bill for cases where a person fails the inspection, and I have heard nothing from the Minister about such a provision. They will get an advisory notice and a timeframe in which to remedy whatever defects have been identified. Many septic tanks are on household sites of half an acre, and householders will be unable to meet the required standards, particularly in the percolation areas and the extent of piping required. It will be physically impossible for those people to comply. What will happen those people? What will happen the person who gets an advisory notice and is faced with a cost of a five figure sum? I have heard figures from €10,000 to €17,000 mentioned, depending on the scope of the work that needs to be done. How does such a person, who may be on social welfare or a paltry pension, meet the requirement in the advisory notice? There is nothing in the Bill to say people will be assisted.

Senator Ó Domhnaill referred to what is happening in Northern Ireland. Britain is focusing on wastewater treatment schemes where the discharge is up to 5 cu. m per day, or less than the surface water, and which are discharging up to 2 cu. m per day into groundwater. Britain is taking a much more targeted approach than we seem to be doing.

I appeal to the Minister to rescope the legislation, from a purely practical point of view. Improving our water supply system is fundamental for us and something to which everyone aspires. However, if legislation is going a certain route it must be practical. The Bill will create difficulties for a large proportion of the rural population, as well as householders in ribbon developments on the outskirts of our towns which are not connected to a public sewerage system. This is a failure of our local authorities. They do not have the funding to do it. One way to deal with that problem, although it would not help the majority of people who will be adversely affected by this measure, would be to pipe the wastewater effluent from those septic tanks into the public scheme and leave the solid material to be cleaned from the septic tanks. If the Minister does not offer some sort of financial package we will be whistling in the wind. The legislation will lead to tremendous aggravation among the populace as a whole who will be seriously and adversely affected by it.