Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach seo ar maidin. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this morning and I thank him for his presence. I want to discuss the issue of rural sewerage schemes. The Minister of State's Department has a multi-annual rural water programme that runs from 2016 to 2018. It is due to expire at the end of this year. One of the areas for which funding can be got is group sewerage schemes where clusters of households are on septic tanks, which in many cases are troublesome from an environmental perspective. As the scheme is due to expire, I am interested to know the Minister of State's plans for a new scheme and how it will evolve under his new announcement. There was huge demand in terms of uptake of the current scheme. I understand 17 local authorities made applications and 83 submissions for funding were received from those local authorities. Unfortunately, in its current guise the scheme is very limited, as the Minister of State is aware, in that only two schemes in the State are funded each year. I am sure he will agree that is inadequate, and I ask that he might address that to ensure every county would benefit from some form of funding to deal with this issue.

As I said, the scheme in its present guise is quite limited and onerous on members of the public. Householders who wish to form as a group to seek funding have to form a limited company, hire engineers and collect moneys. That is onerous on the groups involved. I would like to see the local authority taking complete control of such issues and taking the burden off people who, with all due respect to them, are not qualified to deal with them. In many cases, the local authority has an overriding function to ensure all matters are dealt with accordingly, so that should be taken from the local authority. I would welcome Minister of State's comments on that.

The other issue the Minister of State might comment on, while we are graced with his presence, is funding for individual septic tanks. When people were asked to register their tanks initially, it was done under the perception from Government that funding would be made available to householders with troublesome septic tanks. Unfortunately, when they registered, it became clear that was not the case. People are only eligible for funding where a member of a local authority discovers that a septic tank is not functioning properly. That is unfair and that scheme should be looked at also.

I thank the Minister of State again for his presence here and I would welcome his comments on both issues.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I think the Senator got two bites of the cherry, but I am sure the Minister of State will be able to handle it.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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No better man. He is well able to do it. He is a typical Monaghan man. He squeezes as much as he can out of it.

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising these issues. I am happy to answer them as best I can. My Department's new multi-annual rural water programme 2016-2018 was developed through a working group of key stakeholders involving local authorities, the water services transition office, Irish Water, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes as well as my Department. The programme provides for the funding of demonstration group sewerage schemes through measure 4(d), where clustering of households on individual septic tanks is not a viable option, particularly from an environmental perspective.

In January 2016, local authorities were invited to submit bids under the programme. The invitation envisaged no more than two demonstration group sewerage projects being brought forward under the measure in any one year of the three-year programme. That is in line with the sanction received by my Department in December 2015 from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to increasing the maximum grant per house to €6,750, which is up from €6,500, to cover a limited number of new demonstration group sewerage schemes.

In addition, sanction was also given for these new demonstration group sewerage schemes, in exceptional circumstances, to benefit from a supplemental grant, subject to my Department’s approval, where the project represents the most economically advantageous option.Where a supplemental grant is approved, the overall level of funding from the rural water programme is limited to approximately 90% of the cost per house subject to a minimum contribution of €2,250 per house.

It is important to acknowledge the inclusion of these demonstration group sewerage schemes within the overall new multi-annual funding programme. Last year, 2016, represented the first year in transitioning to the new funding framework for the rural water programme. Therefore, we are in the early stages of this new approach. The demonstrations will allow my Department, over the course of the programme, to determine the appropriate enduring funding levels and relationship with the current grant scheme.

As new demonstration group schemes have been identified for the duration of the programme, and given that only two demonstration projects can be advanced in any given year, my Department does not propose to modify the programme at this point. My Department will give consideration to the scope of the measure under the programme from 2019 onwards having regard to the implementation of the existing multi-annual rural water programme, which runs to the end of next year. My Department also will give wider consideration to the report of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services as it relates to the rural water programme. That report is still being worked on. There is an interest and a desire in the Department to do more in this regard, but it all depends on what funding we get from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The demonstration projects are moving forward. Given that the Senator has mentioned it previously, I know that he is interested in the Milltown project. A range of projects could be moved forward if we were able to secure funding, so we will keep that in mind as we roll out the programme, particularly its first phase.

Regarding funding for septic tanks, it was clear at the time that people were being asked to register their tanks in order that local authorities could manage the situation from an environmental perspective. There was never a commitment that money would be available for every issue. The then Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, made it clear that, where a problem was identified following a test by a local authority, a grant would be made available if someone needed help correcting the environmental issue. There has been a low level of testing in some areas, but that testing is targeted on key areas where there are environmental concerns, generally near waterways. However, no major concerns have been raised about the grant.

Concerns were raised in this and the Lower House that thousands of difficult situations would arise, but that has not happened. As with many issues that are raised in the Houses in a big hullabaloo, the panic was not necessary and the situation has been relatively calm since. There have been a couple of cases and we might discuss them, but if an environmental risk is flagged to a local authority, it generally conducts tests on a number of septic tanks or bioCycles in the area to determine whether there is an issue. That can then lead on to the issue being addressed.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate that his Department is under financial constraints and can only spend the money as it is given it, but he should consider extending the scheme and examining how it is constructed. Finding funding is an onerous and unfair responsibility on groups. Perhaps local authorities could be given sole control of the matter.

I take the Minister of State's point about individuals in both Houses jumping up and down but it is only because they have received representations from their constituents. There is an issue with septic tanks. Were a grant available to an individual householder to upgrade his or her septic tank without a prior inspection being required by the local authority, there would be many more applications.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I forgot to mention that I agree with the Senator, in that we can examine those onerous conditions. I have met many groups that have spent much money trying to organise something. We will consider the matter at the review stage. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is committed to trying to find more money for this. We are on the same page.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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This particular issue brought a great deal of ire down on poor Commissioner Hogan when it went through this House some years ago.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I do not know whether I would use the word "poor", but I take the Cathaoirleach's point.