Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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408. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding septic tanks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16755/14]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published The National Inspection Plan 2013: Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems on 19 February 2013. The Plan was drawn up to best international standards and underpins the risk-based inspection of septic tanks and other on-site treatment systems. The inspection system is consistent with the necessity to ensure compliance with the provisions of the EU Waste Directive and the European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland in October 2009 and also has regard to the European Parliament and Council’s recommendations of 4th April 2001 regarding the minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the Member States (2001/331/EC).

When preparing the Plan, the EPA developed a specifically designed method to rank areas of the country by reference to the risk s posed by domestic waste water treatment systems to both human health and the environment. The risk-based methodology, which has regard to factors such as densities of individual treatment systems across the numerous hydrological and geological settings in Ireland and the locations of sensitive groundwater or surface water receptors, is used as the basis for the selection of particular sites for risk-based inspections by the water services authorities.

Inspections are objective and evidence-based and aimed at identifying on-site systems which pose a risk to human health or the environment. The EPA’s Plan includes details of the minimum number of inspections (per county) to be carried out in its first year of implementation. The EPA will undertake a full review of the Plan following completion of its first cycle on 30 June 2014.Decisions regarding the number of inspections to be carried out annually are a matter for the EPA and will be proportionate to the risk s posed to human health and the environment.