I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 176 together.
The Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2013 , which I recently signed, provide for a scheme of grant assistance for the remediation of domestic wastewater treatment systems. Grant assistance will only be available to an owner whose treatment system was registered before the prescribed date of 1 February 2013 and is deemed, following an inspection under the EPA’s National Inspection Plan, to require remediation or upgrading. The owner must also meet the eligibility criteria specified in the Regulations .
Purchasers of houses may subsequently apply for grant aid once they meet all eligibility criteria, including the requirement that the treatment system serving the property was originally registered before the prescribed date of 1 February 2013. The only exceptions to this are houses that have a treatment system constructed or installed after 1 February 2013; in such cases the owners should register their systems within 90 days of the connection of the premises to the treatment system. The timeframe for completing remediation work will be specified in the advisory notice issued by the water services authority and will depend on the nature of the problem revealed by the inspection and the extent of the risk to human health or the environment. There is no time limit set for submission of grant applications.
