Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 7, to delete lines 18 and 19.

Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil mo chomhghleacaí as mo chontae féin, an tAire Stáit, anseo chun na leasuithe seo a phlé. Ó thaobh na Céime seo den Bhille, tá dhá líne faoi alt 70(c), línte 18 agus 19, "comply with regulations made under section 70(l)". Tá seo ag tabhairt cumhachtaí mór agus leathan don Aire regulation a thabhairt isteach am éigin tar éis don Oireachtas glacadh leis an Bhille. Seo an áit ina bhfuil ceisteanna ag baint leis an Bhille, go háirithe nuair a ghlacaimid leis nach bhfuil na treoirlínte a bhaineann leis na critéir a leagfar síos faoin Bhille seo foilsithe go fóill. Má ghlacaimid leis na treoirlínte sin agus má tá siad cosúil leo siud atá leagtha síos ag an EPA don bhliain 2009 nó 2010, beidh siad fíor-thromchúiseach do cheantair thuaithe. Bhí mé ag caint leis an EPA faoi seo agus dúirt an fhoireann ansin má tá aon treoir le teacht isteach agus má tá an treoir sin le comhlíonadh faoin bhreitheamh a thug an Chúirt Eorpach, ní mór an t-uisce go léir ón lá inniu ar aghaidh a choinneáil glan agus slán. Sin a dúirt an Coimisiún. Más sin an rud atá i gceist, beidh dualgas ar an Roinn faoi na treoirlínte atá á leagadh síos stopadh de réir na dtreoirlínte a bhí ag teacht ón Eoraip sa bhliain 2007, treoirlínte fíor-thromchúiseacha don tír seo. Tá sin glactha ag an EPA mar code of practice in 2010. Tá impleachtaí leis sin ó thaobh an chaighdeáin a bhaineann leis an dabhacj séarachais, an percolation area atá ag dul amach ón dabhach séarachais agus mar sin.

This is the crux of the Bill. I appreciate that Government Members may not fully realise the implications of the legislation when it is implemented. Under section 70(l), the Minister, following consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, may make regulations for the purpose of this Part and the regulations may make provision for maintenance plans for treatment plant systems, performance standards for treatments systems or septic tanks, standards and procedures to apply where domestic wastewater treatment systems are being emptied, the sludge going to a designated site, desludging, the contents being disposed of and the manner in which they are disposed of and any other matters the Minister may prescribe. Under the Bill, the Minister will forever have the power to introduce any matters he may prescribe.

The major difficulty with this section of the Bill is that it refers to the maintenance and operation standards for septic tanks and treatments systems. As these standards have not yet been published, no one in this room knows what they will be. The Minister has not published them or answered any questions in the Houses on them.