Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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120. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason a person cannot avail of the septic tank grant on a universal basis, given its part of their planning permission; will changes will be applied to the rules that state the existing tank or area must be a danger to a watercourse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24252/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The policy of providing grant funding to households for work on Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (DWWTS), including septic tanks, arises from the need to address damage being done to water quality in sensitive areas in particular.

The grants are focused on the areas of greatest environmental priority and are available only in circumstances relating to risks to water quality and/or human health and the environment, and are not general in application.

Householders can avail of the grants if their defective DWWTS has failed an inspection under the National Inspection Plan and an Advisory Notice has been issued, or if the DWWTS is located in either a Prioritised Area for Action or a High Status Objective Catchment Area, as identified in the River Basin Management Plan.

I approved significant improvements to the terms and conditions of the grants available which came into effect from 1 January 2024 and I have no plans to make further changes.