Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this important matter and giving me the opportunity to address it. As he will be aware, the Department provides funding for water services in areas of rural Ireland where no Uisce Éireann water services are available. The Department's rural water programme uses Exchequer funding to deliver improvements to water services throughout the rural water network.

As part of the funding being provided, grants are available to households with domestic water treatment systems, commonly known as septic tanks. The grant is administered on behalf of the Department by local authorities. The grant scheme was introduced by the Department in 2013 and is aimed at providing financial support to assist householders to carry out works to rectify or upgrade defective septic tanks. In 2020, the Department amended and improved the terms and conditions of the grant available to allow households to recoup up to €5,000 and removed the requirement for a means test for eligibility purposes.

The Water Services Act 2007, as amended, requires all owners of premises served by a domestic water treatment system to register their system with the local authority by the prescribed date of 1 February 2013, as the Senator noted. To be eligible for the grant, the owner must have registered their septic tank with the local authority by the prescribed date, and I am pleased to say approximately 98% of all systems are now registered with local authorities. Having a strict cut-off date to register has played a key role in this success.

The Department is carrying out a full review of all matters relating to the grant scheme and the review is at an advanced stage. I note the Senator's call for matters to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including a recent focused workshop with local authority staff administering the grant, has been completed. A key point raised by stakeholders relates to the requirement to register septic tanks with local authorities by the prescribed date. The Department is actively considering all aspects of the current grant scheme, including the prescribed date requirement, as a matter of priority.

The Senator focused on the level of the grant and the exclusion, and both of those matters are being considered. I hope the Department will come to a speedy conclusion on the review with all the relevant stakeholders and especially the local authorities.