Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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179. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the process for a group of residents in a private development to receive grant assistance for upgrading a communal septic tank to a modern wastewater facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3338/16]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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During 2015, my Department established a working group involving key stakeholders in the rural water sector to address the development of the rural water sector within the overall water sector reform programme to ensure that the programme responds effectively to current and future needs. Local authorities, the Water Services Transition Office, Irish Water, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes as well as my Department are represented on the working group. One of the tasks of the group is to develop a multi-annual approach to targeting funding to meet priority needs of the sector.

The working group is also considering a number of areas where there are potential boundary issues with Irish Water or legacy issues which need to be addressed and new approaches in this area will be informed by a number of demonstration projects or pilot schemes, including ones relating to the provision of new group sewerage schemes by communities.

Earlier this month, my Department wrote to local authorities advising them of the new approach to the funding of group water and sewerage schemes for 2016 and beyond. This will ultimately lead to the development of appropriate prioritised lists of schemes for funding and a series of demonstration projects which will assist in further evolving the programme of investment. Details of the new multi-annual programme are available on my Department’s website at

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It is now a matter for local authorities to decide on the prioritised list of group water and sewerage schemes to be funded in their respective areas and to submit their funding applications for the period 2016 to 2018 to my Department by 29 January 2016. Allocations for funding under the new multi-annual programme will be provided to local authorities in due course and following consideration of authorities' bids for funding.

In addition, my Department, as part of a wider overhaul of the taking in charge process, has sought to determine the number of residential developments with developer-provided stand-alone wastewater treatment plants and/or water treatment systems which are not connected to public water or waste water networks. Many of the developments in question have not yet been taken in charge by the relevant local authority because they are unfinished. In some cases the developments may be completed but not to the standards required under the planning permissions granted.

A pilot project was undertaken to identify the extent of problems arising from developer-provided water services infrastructure nationally, and to identify a range of possible solutions and the potential costs involved. The recommendations made by the pilot project’s Steering Group are currently informing the development, by my Department, of future policy in this area, including funding options, to address the problems arising from developer-provided water services infrastructure in order to remove impediments to the taking in charge of associated housing estates and, where appropriate, the transfer of such infrastructure to Irish Water.