Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 7 relates to most of 70B(3) in section 4. Under the legislation as it is currently construed costs will be imposed on septic tank owners. When they get the provisional notice from the local authority they will be forced to apply to the water services authority in whose function area the treatment system is situated to have the treatment system, which includes a septic tank, entered onto the register of domestic wastewater treatment systems which will be maintained by the local authority.

I refer to section 4(3)(a), (b), (c) and (d). We are proposing that any information the local authority will provide will be at no cost to the septic tank owner or the householder because there is an array of hidden charges built in to this legislation that could result in substantial costs to the individuals who may need to seek information. The Minister has acknowledged that he will make planning an exemption for the septic tank charges and he has not ruled out the possibility of ecological costs for persons who have a septic tank in a natural heritage area, NHA, a special protection area, or a special area of conservation, SAC. I checked the costs with an ecologist in Donegal and they generally start at approximately €750 for an ecological report. If one is located in a wetlands area - under the Minister's directive signed on 8 September most of the west is now a wetland area - the cost could include an environmental impact assessment if the land is within certain a certain zone.