Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has plans to introduce registration and monitoring of the indirect discharges into ground-water of domestic effluents from the septic tanks of more than 300,000 isolated dwellings, in view of the comments by the chairman of An Bord Pleanála regarding the fact that there must be accounting for some of the decline in ground-water standards reported by the Environmental Protection Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31742/07]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 177: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has plans to introduce the registration and inspection of the indirect discharges into ground-water of effluents from the septic tanks and waste water treatment units of various rural settlements and agglomerations which are in breach of the conditions, laid down in the Ground-water Directive and referred to in the recent court judgment against Ireland but for which insufficient evidence was provided by the Commission to the court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31744/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 177 together.

Clear and comprehensive best practice guidance in regard to Groundwater Protection and the Planning System was issued to all planning authorities by my Department in July 2003. The Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities, which issued in April 2005, emphasised the need for adherence to best practice in order to protect water quality. These guidelines were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which requires planning authorities to have regard to such guidelines in the performance of their functions.

Septic tanks installed on or after 1 June 1992 must comply with Part H of the Building Regulations which requires septic tanks to be so sited and constructed that they do not pollute, so as to endanger public health, any water (including groundwater) which is used as a source of supply for human consumption. The related Technical Guidance Document H provides guidance on how to comply with Part H. Guidance on septic tank drainage systems for single houses is contained in Irish Standard Recommendations S.R. 6: 1991 for Domestic Effluent Treatment and Disposal from Single Dwellings issued by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). For septic tanks serving groups of houses, British Standard B.S. 6297: 1983, a Code of Practice for the Design and Installation of Small Sewage Treatment Works, issued by the British Standards Institute applies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently developing a comprehensive Code of Practice on Waste Water Treatment Systems. The EPA intends to publish the Code of Practice under section 76 of the EPA Act, and this code will then be cited in the Annex to Technical Guidance Document H of the Building Regulations which is to be revised next year.

The Water Services Act 2007 contains a number of significant provisions in relation to the operation of septic tanks. It places a duty of care on the occupier or owner of a premises in relation to the maintenance of septic tanks and it also requires the occupier or owner to notify the water services authority where any leak, accident or other incident occurs relating to discharges of sewage from a septic tank, where it is likely to cause a risk to human health or safety or the environment. These sections will be brought into operation shortly.

In addition, it is open to local authorities to make and adopt bye-laws to require periodic inspections of septic tanks and other on-site proprietary treatment systems under the general powers available to them under the Local Government Act 2001.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the sustainable rural housing guidelines which state in Section 4.5 Protecting Water Quality, that critical elements of Circular Letter SP 5-03 issued to planning authorities gave guidance on development control and enforcement standards and practices to ensure protection of ground-water quality; the annual programmes of testing and monitoring of individual waste water treatment and disposal systems that have taken place of developments given consent since the guidelines were issued 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31743/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I refer to the reply to Question No. 638 of 27 November 2007.

As set out in my Department's circular letter (SP 5-03) of 31 July 2003 concerning Ground-water Protection and the Planning System, it is the responsibility of planning authorities to monitor the degree to which those carrying out approved development meet their obligations to comply with the terms of planning permissions granted, and to enforce such terms where necessary.

Planning authorities should ensure that the process of enforcing the terms of planning permissions for all developments involving on-site wastewater treatment and disposal, including septic tanks, is co-ordinated through a local authority-held database which would provide information such as the location and types of such systems relative to vulnerable areas as well as details such as maintenance contracts. Such a database can be used by the planning authority to structure an annual programme of testing and monitoring the performance of individual wastewater treatment and disposal systems, and is also of value in recording outputs from site assessments and providing inputs into new site assessments in terms of general drainage trends in an area. It is a matter for planning authorities to ensure that adequate arrangements are put in place in these regards and to manage such monitoring systems.