Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

What legal advice was sought from the Attorney General on this matter? Have any flaws in the 2007 Water Services Act been rectified in this Bill? Many people are unhappy with this legislation and have said they will oppose assessors coming on to their land. We must ensure the legislation is watertight.

Sinn Féin has an issue with failure to adhere to these regulations leading to a criminal offence. In the fishing industry, regulations set by EU directives were introduced for the landing of catches. Now, for example, a prosecution for an improperly marked catch logbook means a criminal offence for the fisherman in question. Some Aran Islands fishermen have received criminal records because of such administrative misdemeanours. In the case of the Water Services (Amendment) Bill, a person with a faulty septic tank may be charged with a criminal offence and suffer the same fate as the Aran Islands fishermen. This is unacceptable to Sinn Féin.

We have had the example of the builders who did not construct the Priory Hall apartments to the proper specifications. Many other houses have been built across the country in the past 20 years. Not everyone will have checked their septic tank and will have depended in good faith on the builder or engineer to inform them it is up the required standard. If a fault were found with a septic tank in such circumstances, to whom does the criminal offence pertain? Is it the owner of the septic tank or the person who put in a faulty tank? It could also happen in the case of a house sold on.