asked the Minister for Local Government why it is still necessary that local authority housing sites should be inspected by the Chief Medical Officer.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Inspection of Housing Sites.
14.
I am not aware that all such sites have to be so inspected. Where a site cannot be sewered except by means of a septic tank, the Chief Medical Officer must be satisfied that the means of disposal of the effluent will be such as not to cause a danger to public health.
Would the Minister not agree that this is more the job of a civil engineer than a doctor, especially in County Dublin where the Chief Medical Officer is so busy on other work?
This applies only to proposed sites where there is no public sewer. In those circumstances, we have felt over the years that, in addition to the technical advice required in all these matters, lest there be a danger to public health in the siting of the septic tank, and so on, the medical officer's report was desirable in these cases but only in these cases.