Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

Yes. If a person cannot produce a valid certificate of registration or impedes, obstructs or blocks an inspector from coming on to a property, it is categorised as an offence under section 70(g) and where a person fails to comply with an advisory notice under section 70(h), it is also an offence. There is also a duty of care to bring septic tanks up to standard. We do not even know what those standards are, although we learned from a programme last night that agreement has now been reached between the Department, the Minister and the European Commission on the level of maintenance standards to be applied. If that is the case, where is the legal documentation pertaining to the agreement? If there is no legal agreement in place, perhaps the Minister will clarify the issue because it will also relate to offences. We are totally opposed to the introduction of offences to force people to comply with this legislation. The Bill should have been written on an incentive-led basis, with people being given an incentive to upgrade their septic tank systems, which might even add value to their properties. It should have been done on a stimulus basis, with up to €2.7 billion being made available under a retrofit grant scheme. The Minister is going the wrong way about it, and we cannot agree with a Bill that criminalises people who do not comply with it by making it an offence. Very many people will not be able to comply because financially they will not be in a position to do so. Many people are struggling coming up to Christmas. We oppose this.