Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1545. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to provide a free desludging service to all domestic wastewater systems (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15569/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Section 70 of the Water Services Act 2007 places a duty of care on the owner of a premises to ensure that their waste water treatment systems are kept so as not to cause, or be likely to cause, a risk to human health or the environment, including risk to water, the atmosphere, land, soil, plants or animals, or create a nuisance through odours. The duty of care provisions have been augmented by the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 and associated regulations.

Any person who considers that his or her treatment system constitutes, or may constitute, a risk to human health or the environment is responsible for having any necessary remediation works carried out without delay. The Act 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 Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2013, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas library, brought into operation a grant scheme to assist with the cost of remediation of septic tanks and domestic waste water treatment systems which are deemed, following inspection under the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Inspection Plan, to require repair or upgrading. The Regulations provide that, subject to the applicant meeting all qualification criteria, a local authority may pay a grant to a person who is required, following an inspection, to undertake repairs or upgrades to, or replacement of, a septic tank or other domestic waste water treatment system. Applications for grant aid are administered by the local authority in whose functional area the particular domestic waste water treatment system requiring remediation is situated. The local authorities then seek recoupment of the amounts paid from my Department. Where a local authority pays a grant under the scheme, my Department will recoup to the local authority 100% of the amount paid.

Full details of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, are set out in the explanatory leaflet and application form published on my Department’s website at the following link:

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The grants scheme ensures that the limited financial resources available are targeted towards householders, particularly those on lower incomes, who incur expenditure directly as a result of the inspection scheme. My Department is revising this scheme to better support the programme of measures in the finalised River Basin Management Plan 2018 - 2021 which is being published today. The scheme is being extended in order to provide particular support to high status waters and areas identified for priority action in the River Basin Management Plan.

I have recently approved the establishment of a Working Group to conduct a review of the wider investment needs relating to rural water services. The review will focus on the actions required to improve and sustain rural water services and will consider issues such as governance, supervision and monitoring of the sector, in addition to capital investment priorities and requirements across all elements of rural water services, including domestic waste water treatment systems. The establishment of the Working Group is being undertaken in response to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services.

In its April 2017 Report the Committee recommended that, “the principles of equity of treatment and equivalent financial support should be applied equally between households on public water supplies and those availing of private water services”, and that my Department should conduct a review in consultation with relevant stakeholders “to quantify what additional investment will be required to equalise treatment between those availing of domestic water services and those availing of private services.” The review will consider how best to position and resource water services in rural areas so that they can contribute further to the development and long-term sustainability of a comprehensive and cohesive Rural Water Sector that will have the capacity to produce quality outcomes comparable to those available to customers of public water services.

The Terms of Reference of the review provide that there will be a two-strand approach to the considerations of the Working Group. Strand 1 will consider the composition and distribution of funding for the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme from 2019 up to 2021, while Strand 2 will consider the more complex longer-focus issues surrounding the long-term future resourcing of the Rural Water Sector. It is intended that by the end of July 2018, the Working Group will produce a summary report on Strand 1 of its deliberations which will outline the rationale for funding priorities for the next cycle of the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme up to 2021. At that time the Working Group will also set out time frames for its consideration of and reporting on the more complex longer-focus (Strand 2) matters.

The organisations that are participating on the Working Group reflect the importance and wide ranging impact of the Rural Water Sector. In addition to my Department, the Working Group is to comprise the following other Departments and bodies: the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Health Service Executive, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and the County and City Management Association. It is expected that the Working Group will consult with other relevant stakeholders in respect of specific topics under consideration.