Cllr Frankie Keena

MORE than 440,000 families throughout the country will be hit with a controversial annual septic tank charge if Minister Phil Hogan and the current FG & Lab Government get their way over the coming months, according to Cllr. Frankie Keena. There is a rumor of a €300 a year charge from next year for the inspection and maintenance of the tanks. Obviously the purpose of the inspection is to see if the septic tanks meet the current EU regulatory requirements in relation to maintaining good quality ground water. So many homeowners could also be forced to replace or upgrade their tanks at a huge cost. I am sure that everyone wants to protect our ground water, but house owners who have provided their own sewerage systems at no cost to the state or the EU should not now be told that they will have to pay for inspections, and possible remedial works, declared Cllr. Keena. I have deep reservations and concern over any proposals by this Government to introduce additional costs on hard-pressed farming and rural dwelling families. The public should be aware that if the Government passes this requirement into law then we will effectively have septic tank charges on top of other water charges for farming communities, he said. It is also important to point out that there are hundreds of thousands of non farming dwellers living in the countryside who will be unjustly hit with these charges as well, for example people living on the outskirts of urban areas that have no mains sewage system, he said. It is my firm belief that these proposed charges are anti-rural, it is not their fault that there is no public main sewage system going by their homes. I do not want to turn this into an urban versus rural issue but I do feel it is wrong to penalize a large section of our population, said Cllr. Keena. It is important to point out that people in rural areas built their houses and septic tanks in full compliance with the conditions of their planning applications. The septic tanks were built according to the required regulations at that time. Therefore it is my firm view that if it is necessary to inspect and upgrade these tanks to today’s standards then the home owners should not be liable for the costs, he added. It is my understanding that the Water Services ( Amendment ) Bill is due to be published later this year. This purpose of this Bill is to establish a system for inspecting and monitoring the performance of septic tanks and other on-site waste water treatment systems. While I acknowledge the previous Government had played a part in drafting this Bill I strongly feel that it needs to be re-examined and amended before it is enacted to either provide grants to upgrade these septic tanks or else to bring in a derogation whereby all existing septic tank owners would be exempt from charges, stated Cllr. Keena. In conclusion, ‘I want to state that I will be very vocal against these charges and will raise the matter with members of both houses of the Oireachtas’, he said.