Ring wants urgent reform of septic tank grant regulations

Mayo TD Michael Ring has called on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, to urgently reform septic tank grant regulations.

Currently the septic tank grant is only available to households that registered their septic tank with the local authority by the prescribed date of February 1, 2013 and the tank must fail an inspection carried out randomly under the EPA’s National Inspection Plan or be in a Prioritised Area of Action, where a person has received a letter from the Local Authority Waters Programme Office confirming eligibility to apply for a grant or in houses situated in High Status Objective Catchment Areas in accordance with the River Basin Management Plan 2018-221.

“I am seeking a total reform of this scheme, particularly to enable householders to self-report a fault so that they might qualify for the grant and take action.

“I had also questioned the Minister about re-opening the time frame for the registration of septic tanks, to enable households that had not previously registered in 2013, to register now and avail of the septic tank grant if required.

“Minister O’Brien confirmed that his Department is currently carrying out a review of all matters relating to the grant scheme – the review is at an advanced stage. Extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders including a recent focused workshop with local authority staff administering the grant has been completed. A number of points were raised in respect of the qualifying criteria for the grant. My Department is actively considering the points raised including the prescribed date requirement, as a matter of priority.”

Deputy Ring added: “If the real purpose of the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012, is to protect ground and surface water quality (particularly drinking water sources) from the risks posed by malfunctioning systems, then I believe grant aid should be available for all malfunctioning systems self-reported to the local authority. Improvement of water quality should be the aim and not just red tape which disqualifies households from being assisted.”