Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Feb 1993

Vol. 426 No. 5

Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Septic Tank and Percolation Systems.

Robert Molloy

Ceist:

9 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the exceptional difficulties being experienced by local people applying for planning permission for dwelling houses for members of their families in Connemara and the Aran Islands because of the new SR6 regulations applying for septic tanks and percolation areas; the steps, if any, he will take to assist low-income families to meet these requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Stagg)

I am aware that there may be difficulties with the use of septic tanks and percolation systems in parts of County Galway. However, Standard Recommendation S.R.6: 1991 is a very important measure for controlling water pollution and protecting public health. Local authorities were asked in January 1992 to give due recognition in their development plans to the standard and to ensure that the design and location of septic tanks were in conformity with it. It is a matter for each local authority, having regard to the circumstances of each case, to take whatever action they consider necessary to comply with this request.

Sewerage grants of up to £500 for houses on the mainland and £750 for houses on certain Gaeltacht islands are available from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht for the provision of individual sewerage systems to qualified applicants in Gaeltacht areas, which would include Connemara and the Aran Islands.

The group sewerage grants scheme administered by my Department provides grants of up to £500 per house on the mainland and £750 per house on off-shore islands for approved sewage disposal systems where two or more households get together to provide sewerage facilities and where no such facilities exist or existing facilities are seriously deficient.

Mr. Molloy

The Minister does not seem to be aware of the seriousness of the position. Everybody recognises the need for a proper sewage disposal system for each house and there is no complaint about that. The difficulty is — I do not know if the Minister is aware of this — the cost of meeting the SR6 requirements in many cases in the Connemara region and the Aran Islands because of the terrain is excessive and beyond the financial ability of the families there. The grant scheme the Minister mentioned is a group sewerage scheme which very few people have been able to avail of and would be of no benefit to the families I mentioned. I am asking the Minister to introduce a new grant. Not many people would call for this but in areas where there is very wet boggy land there is no way one can pass the SR6 requirement.

No houses will be built in those areas unless some facility is given to enable these people meet the requirements which can be done sometimes by importing soil and so on. Puraflo, the Board na Móna system, costs £3,000. A small householder in Connemara would not be able to pay that.

An Ceann Comhairle

The question is tending towards a debate.

Mr. Molloy

The Minister may wish to comment on that.

Mr. Stagg

As I said, there are grants available to individual houses, £500 on the mainland and £750 on the Aran Islands. These grants are available for these areas in recognition of their special needs. As regards Galway, the houses the Deputy is talking about could not be built under the old regulations because there were no suitable sites for septic tank disposal. That is why houses were not built under the old section 4 system in Galway. The Deputy will agree with the desirable tightening up of safeguards to prevent pollution of ground water. Systems to prevent pollution are relatively expensive. The cost of the Bord na Móna system for a single house is £2,500. But in the context of the type of bungalows in Connemara, it would be a very small percentage of the total cost of a house. I agree that there are families who need to house themselves and the local authority have various ways of assisting them in that regard.

Mr. McCormack

Is the Minister aware that because of the lack of top soil in Connemara it is now impossible to meet the SR6 requirements for septic tanks? Is the Minister aware that before the SR6 regulation was enforced in 1992 many septic tanks were properly constructed in Connemara above ground and without percolation areas and that they have been working perfectly for 15 and 20 years? Will the Minister consider advising Galway County Council to ease the regulations for the Connemara area? Is the Minister further aware that the type of housing to which he referred in Connemara is built by wealthy outsiders from Dublin and the Minister's county who can afford the £2,500 for a purification system or can import top soil to make the soil comply with the SR6 regulation? Will the Minister agree that this is serious discrimination against the local people in Connemara who wish to provide houses for themselves and their families?

An Ceann Comhairle

The question is over long and tending towards debate.

Mr. Stagg

The SR6 1991 replaces and updates the 1975 standard recommendation, the new standard is not more onerous than the 1975 standard. Measures of a technical nature are available to comply with this, and they are not expensive. Deep ploughing, for example, usually gets over the problem in Connemara. There is not a big change between the old regulations and the new, and their purpose is to retain the purity of ground water. There has been very serious pollution of ground water used for private and public consumption. It can often appear to be clear and pure when in fact it is unfit for human consumption arising from septic tank pollution.

An Ceann Comhairle

A number of Deputies are offering, I will call the Deputies if they will be brief. I call Deputy Durkan.

Mr. Molloy

I tabled the question.

An Ceann Comhairle

I appreciate that. I shall call the Deputy in due course and I will also seek to include his colleague.

Mr. Durkan

Does the Minister accept the need for the introduction of a standardised system for treating sewage from single isolated houses throughout the country and the necessity to bring the price within the reach of people applying for planning permission in rural areas?

Mr. Stagg

Certainly, we are talking about an attempt to standardise the system of sewage disposal for single houses.

Mr. Molloy

I am disappointed. Does the Minister not accept from me, and my colleague, Deputy McCormack, that poor families cannot afford the cost of meeting the SR6 requirements? I am not asking for any diminution in the standards. They are necessary but if we ask poor people to meet high standards outside their cost range they will not be able to build houses or will not get planning permission. Will the Minister look seriously at this issue to see if some financial assistance can be introduced? It will not cost a huge amount of money because the number of houses being built in these areas is small. Will the Minister agree, that the Bord an Móna Puraflow system should be made available at a subsidised cost to these people to enable them to build houses for their families because, otherwise, they will be forced to emigrate? They cannot build in their own locality. Outsiders are building houses because they can afford the cost of meeting the requirements.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy made his point effectively.

Mr. Molloy

Is the Minister aware that in many villages in Connemara more houses are owned by absentee landlords than by local people? That is the kind of situation these regulations are forcing upon the people in my constituency.

Mr. Stagg

We do not wish to encourage absentee landlords to be predominant people in an area. There is a recognition of the special needs of the area, there are special grants arising from that, of £500 per house on the mainland and £750 on the islands, which are not available anywhere else.

Ms Keogh

Is the Minister aware of a certain reluctance on the part of some people to accept the Bord na Móna system? Would he be prepared to talk to local authorities in relation to that reluctance?

Mr. Stagg

The Bord na Móna system is available to local authorities and private individuals at quite a reasonable cost, taking the unit cost of houses into account.

Mr. Molloy

It might be reasonable to the Minister but not if one is living on ten acres.

Mr. Stagg

There is no other assistance available except what I have already outlined.