Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, lines 22 and 23, to delete all words from and including " "or" in line 22 down to and including "section 70E" " in line 23 and substitute the following:

" "or an inspector appointed from within the agency staff" ".

This issue was debated on Committee Stage. The amendment seeks to make the section concise and brief in its intention. I will be succinct. The amendment seeks consistency with reference to the agency staff who will carry out the inspection. The Minister gave a helpful explanation during our previous discussion and explained that these people would have to be qualified architects or engineers. He also explained that the staff who carry out the work may not necessarily be local authority architects or engineers but that there might be a panel from which the local authority would choose a qualified person.

The Minister may have clarified what follows on that, but I want to clarify it for myself. Whether it is a member of staff or inspector who does the inspection, who will pay for it? Will it be the client, the landowner or someone else? Currently, if a citizen, an auctioneer or a solicitor seeks to ascertain information, when, for example, a roadway or pathway is taken over, the charge is €100. The Minister may not have the answer, but what does he envisage will be the cost of such a letter from a local authority confirming that an inspection has or has not taken place? I have a concern in that regard. If an engineer or architect inspects the septic tank, soakpit or waste water treatment set-up on a particular site, who will pay the inspector for the visit and who will pay the local authority for the confirmation that an inspection has taken place and the system is satisfactory or otherwise?

The amendment is fairly succinct and brief, but I would like some clarity on issues that were not clarified fully on Committee Stage.