Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

Those fines were imposed in 2007. That principal Act did not introduce the penalties referred to in this section. The Minister is changing the provision where a person fails to comply with a request under subsection (11) within ten days. That is being increased to 20 days but if people do not comply, they face a class A fine under section 70B(12) for not being able to provide a valid registration certificate for a septic tank. That was not introduced by the previous Government but is being introduced by this Minister. This means, in effect, that people can be fined up to €5,000 for not being able to produce a valid certification within the 20 days. That is wrong. I appreciate that people must be penalised for polluting the environment but we are in very straitened times.