Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 January 2024
334. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will undertake a review of the high-status objective catchment area and area for action in accordance with the River Basin Management Plan which excludes homeowners with problematic septic tanks from inspection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2372/24]
View answerThere are currently three separate Domestic Waste Water Treatment System (DWWTS) grant schemes available to householders. The purpose of the grants is to provide financial assistance to householders to repair or upgrade their defective DWWTS, commonly called septic tanks. In order to avail of the grants, householders must have failed an inspection under the National Inspection Plan and be issued with an Advisory Notice, or must be situated in either a Prioritised Area for Action or High Status Objective Catchment Area as identified in the River Basin Management Plan.
My Department is currently finalising the third River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, which will be published shortly. High-status objective areas and protected areas include bathing waters, shellfish waters, drinking water supply sources and protected habitats. The Areas for Action for the upcoming Plan were agreed by each of the five Regional Operational Committees and five Regional Management Committees, and were selected with the participation of the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
One of the key measures to address the decline in high status waterbodies was the setting up of the Blue Dot Catchments Programme and associated Steering Group to specifically target the maintenance and restoration of high status waterbodies under the second-cycle plan. The Blue Dot Catchments Programme will continue its work towards ensuring that all Blue Dot waters continue to meet their high-status objective or improve to high status, and will draft a detailed work plan in relation to these waterbodies.
In November 2023 I announced substantial improvements to the terms and conditions of all three grants. I approved an increase of the grant amount available to €12,000 from €5,000 and also made it is easier to qualify by removing the requirement, for the purposes of the grant, on households to have registered their DWWTS with the local authority. The changes came into effect on 1 January 2024 and I have no plans to make any further changes at this time. The impact of the grant will be reviewed during the third River Basin Management Plan cycle.
