Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the total number of septic tank owners nationally per census 2016 figures; the total number of septic tank units inspected in each of the years 2014, 2015 and to date in 2016 and planned inspections for the remainder of the year; the total number of septic tank units that failed and passed inspections in 2014, 2015 and to date in 2016; the number of septic tank owners who were awarded grant aid annually in this period; the total amount of grant aid in monetary value paid to septic tank owners; the average grant amount paid to septic tank owners in this period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40803/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Census 2011, published by the Central Statistics Office, indicates that there were 437,652 septic tanks and 50,259 individual treatment systems in Ireland in 2011. Census 2016 figures are not yet published. The Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 assigns responsibility to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make a National Inspection Plan (NIP) for domestic wastewater treatment systems and neither I, nor my Department, has any direct role in monitoring the implementation of the plan by the local authorities.

The EPA was the supervisory body for the purposes of the National Inspection Plan 2013: Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems, which was adopted and published by the EPA in February 2013. The EPA has conducted a review of the implementation of the Plan for the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. The report contains a breakdown by county of inspections that have taken place and includes details relating to non-compliant treatment systems and advisory notices. It is available on the Agency’s website at the following link:

A further NIP Inspection Data Report 1 July 2013 - 31 December 2014provided an update to the previous review and included data from inspections carried out in the period 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2014.This is available at: .

The National Inspection Plan 2015 to 2017: Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systemswas adopted and published by the EPA in 2015. The Plan provides for a minimum of 1,000 inspections to be carried out by the water services authorities (which are the 31 county, city, and county and city councils) on an annual basis up to December 2017. Details of the minimum number of inspections to be carried out in each county are included in the Plan. This plan is also available on the Agency’s website at:

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Applications for grant aid in respect of remediation works are submitted to, and processed by, the local authorities who then seek recoupment of the amounts paid from my Department. Information is not therefore held by my Department on grant applications approved or paid by local authorities. However, details of the grant amounts recouped by my Department to local authorities since the scheme was introduced in 2013 are published on my Department’s website at the following link:

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