Michael Creed
Ceist:100 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason all local authorities are not insisting on approval of bio-cycle treatment plants by Irish agreements. [12145/02]
Written Answers. - Water and Sewerage Schemes.
My Department's circular letter, PD 3/94, dated 21 July 1994 to planning authorities dealt with planning aspects relating to the use of proprietary waste water treatment systems, for the disposal of sewage from domestic dwellings. Proprietary sewage disposal systems are usually certified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland or Irish Agrément Board. Circular letter PD 3/94 indicated that proprietary treatment systems generally, and particularly those with Agrément certification, will, if operated and maintained properly, deliver effluents to a consistently high quality.
It is a matter for each planning authority to assess, on the merits of each individual case, whether or not a particular site is suitable for on-site disposal of effluent. Having decided in principle that a site is suitable for on-site disposal of effluent, it is a matter for the planning authority to attach the appropriate conditions to the relevant planning permission, having regard to the type of waste water treatment system under consideration, that is, septic tank proprietary system. As with planning conditions generally, follow-up action to ensure compliance with such a condition is a matter for each planning authority concerned.