Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter, which impacts upon the lives of all our constituents. I welcome our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, to the House. I am not sure if I have had occasion to congratulate him in this setting before. In any event, it is no harm to renew my welcome to him.

Group sewerage schemes are generally a success and alleviate many difficulties for people trying to live outside or adjacent to small towns and villages. They are crucial in villages, towns and rural settlements. Currently, there must be a cluster of 25 houses to qualify for grant aid. The issue is that in general, particularly in small towns, there tend to be settlements of eight to ten houses. It can be as low as five or as high as ten. It can vary. Certainly from eight to ten onwards they should be allowed to form a group scheme and to receive grant aid. I know there might be questions around economies of scale but I cannot see, from my layman's understanding of this, that there would be that radical a difference. Whether there is or not is not the point because we cannot discriminate against these people. One of my wonderful elected council colleagues who has been a councillor for 40 years told me that he has recently come across a person whose septic tank failed the normal environmental test. Of course these tests are necessary for the health of the environment and people. This constituent's septic tank failed the normal testing but there was no scheme because they were under the required number. This created a very difficult situation.

This is not totally germane to this debate but I would like this to be reflected back to Government for the matter to be considered. I know that we do not pass motions on money matters but I exhort and request that the grant aid for these schemes be increased. The big priority would be to reduce the numbers and then the grant aid ask, because the water connection grant aids in the water schemes is actually higher.

The water schemes go back to my youth. They were transformative in rural Ireland, transforming the lives of people in communities, particularly rural women, which is not an aspect often focused on. It should not have been the case but that is how it was in reality. The sewerage scheme also transformed the lives of local people. Now with working from home, the size of Dublin and with the need to have local settlements and diverse local communities, the schemes are crucial. I contend that we should look at reducing the number required. I await the Minister of State's response.