Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 February 2013
128. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total registration figures for wastewater treatment systems to date broken down by county; the percentage registered broken down by county; his plans for those homes that have not registered; the expected date of the Environmental Protection Agency national inspection plan publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5668/13]
View answerThe Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 requires householders whose properties are served by on-site wastewater treatment systems to register their system with their local authority. The deadline for householders to register was 1 February. At the passing of that deadline, 373,954 applications in respect of the on-site wastewater treatment systems by owners who registered online, by post or in person at their local authority offices had been processed and approximately 25,000 additional registration applications were awaiting processing by the bureau operated by the Local Government Management Agency. The table below sets out details of the number of processed registrations for each county and city council by 1 February 2013.
My Department will in the coming weeks discuss with the local authorities the approach to be taken in respect of unregistered systems. The Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 provides that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will make a national inspection plan for domestic wastewater treatment systems. I expect that the plan will be published shortly and that inspections will commence in the middle of this year.
Registrations processed as of 4 February 2013
|
Water Services Authority |
Estimated total number of on-site wastewater treatment systems |
No. of on-site wastewater treatment systems registered |
No. of on-site wastewater treatment systems registered as a percentage of the estimated total number |
|
Carlow County Council |
7,190 |
5,369 |
74.0 |
|
Cavan County Council |
14,477 |
12,064 |
83.0 |
|
Clare County Council |
19,769 |
17,579 |
88.0 |
|
Cork City Council |
586 |
496 |
84.0 |
|
Cork County Council |
57,993 |
39,309 |
67.0 |
|
Donegal County Council |
32,955 |
20,284 |
61.0 |
|
Dublin City Council |
2,718 |
102 |
3.0 |
|
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council |
1,928 |
989 |
51.0 |
|
Fingal County Council |
5,213 |
2,821 |
54.0 |
|
Galway City Council |
1,145 |
645 |
56.0 |
|
Galway County Council |
42,161 |
30,895 |
73.0 |
|
Kerry County Council |
28,277 |
28,153 |
99.0 |
|
Kildare County Council |
16,795 |
12,165 |
72.0 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
15,368 |
11,705 |
76.0 |
|
Laois County Council |
11,309 |
8,557 |
75.0 |
|
Leitrim County Council |
7,005 |
6,149 |
87.0 |
|
Limerick City Council |
420 |
205 |
48.0 |
|
Limerick County Council |
24,207 |
17,949 |
74.0 |
|
Longford County Council |
7,556 |
5,849 |
77.0 |
|
Louth County Council |
11,633 |
7,530 |
64.0 |
|
Mayo County Council |
26,659 |
22,586 |
84.0 |
|
Meath County Council |
21,687 |
16,159 |
74.0 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
12,065 |
7,423 |
61.0 |
|
North Tipperary County Council |
12,342 |
9,931 |
80.0 |
|
Offaly County Council |
11,170 |
8,286 |
74.0 |
|
Roscommon County Council |
14,297 |
11,973 |
83.0 |
|
Sligo County Council |
11,192 |
9,196 |
82.0 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
2,266 |
1,085 |
47.0 |
|
South Tipperary County Council |
14,442 |
10,971 |
75.0 |
|
Waterford City Council |
488 |
343 |
70.0 |
|
Waterford County Council |
11,466 |
7,655 |
66.0 |
|
Westmeath County Council |
12,165 |
9,506 |
78.0 |
|
Wexford County Council |
26,267 |
20,282 |
77.0 |
|
Wicklow County Council |
12,070 |
9,743 |
80.0 |
The Minister said that the national inspection plan will be published later this year. He has also said in the past that the inspection system agreed with the Commission will meet the standards required in the European Court of Justice ruling. If it is the case that the Minister has on our behalf agreed a system with the Commission on foot of that ruling, he should then publish the plan to allow people on the ground understand how the inspection scheme is to be implemented. That being the case, would the Minister not retrospectively extend the deadline for registration? Why has the plan not been published?
Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and some Independent Deputies have for the past year opposed this registration and inspection regime for ground water quality. In spite of that, 80% of people who have septic tanks have registered.
I thank them very much for this response in spite of the advice given by people not to even register when the fee was €5 at the end of last September. Many people in the Opposition cost citizens €45 in additional expenditure because they gave them very bad advice. We have carried out a major campaign to alert people to the fact Ireland has a European Court of Justice ruling against it. It is important to have good quality groundwater and an important part of the judgment is that people register. Without having a database, I would say the voluntary response from people has been magnificent and I thank them for it.
Hear, hear.
The national inspection plan which was sent to the Department in recent days is being examined and I expect to publish it shortly.
My question is simply if an inspection regime has been agreed with the Commission why has the Minister not published the inspection plan on how to rectify this situation? It must be the case that in announcing his grand scheme the Minister is sufficiently satisfied the grant amounts will be sufficient to meet the demands of the inspection regime. I accept the Minister has agreed an inspection regime with the EU and the Commission on foot of the ruling. I accept what he stated with regard to those who have registered, whether for €5 or for €50, but the Minister has agreed something in Europe and will not tell the public what it is. Why did we have to wait until now in the first instance and how much longer must we wait?
As I stated previously to the Deputy, inspections will not take place until after the registration process is complete. Inspections will not take place for several months. The plan will be published in the coming weeks and I have no difficulty agreeing this with the Deputy. It has been the subject of much detailed investigation with the Commission by the EPA and it was forwarded to the Department in recent days. It will be a national risk-based inspection plan and local authorities will be responsible for carrying out the inspections in their functional areas. Based on the number of people inspected, which will be a low enough percentage of those registered, people have nothing to fear; all they must do is ensure the system they have, under the conditions in which it was installed, is working.
