Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

Does the Minister see any need for a certificate of registration to be registered also on the title of the property? Anybody buying or selling property will ensure that the cost of desludging or fixing or replacing a septic tank will be an integral part of any searches to be done. Will it be registered as a lis pendens or a burden on the property? Should it be so registered?

I am also confused about the five-year period. The septic tank, the soak pit and all that goes with it are such an integral part of the property that if it is registered, it should be registered for good and glory. If property is registered, it is there forever. If a house is being sold, then unless it is being knocked, the septic tank must last with the lifetime of the house, which in most instances would be in excess of 60 years. The Minister might consider giving the registration a permanent function, and also making it part of the title; that is, if somebody is buying or selling property, he or she must ensure it is present as a simple attachment to the title deed. It does not make a lot of sense if people have to re-register. I do not see the need, unless, as somebody said, it is to require people, for some furtive motive, to go back to square one. It is similar to when one gets an NCT for a car and one is asked pay another fee, even though the Minister says he does not wish to do that. He should make it more permanent and make it part of the title. A septic tank is an integral part of a property. This five-year clause is confusing.