Call to extend grants for new septic tanks
The issue was raised by Cllr Damien Ryan.
A call to extend the grants for replacing wastewater treatment systems in rural areas was approved by members of Mayo County Council at their March meeting.
The matter was raised by Cllr Damien Ryan who called on the Department of the Environment to make grants for the replacement of wastewater treatment systems more widely available. Eligibility for the grants is contingent on various rules, including whether the tanks are subject to local authority inspections; the home is in a prioritised area for action or in a high-status objective catchment area (HSOCA).
“Not everyone has great wastewater systems and there should be a minimal level of discretion in regard to the grants," said Cllr Ryan. "A number of systems are consistently causing trouble for people and need replacing. It costs huge money to change these systems and many of them are to the rear of houses or in mature lawns and difficult to access.
"There should be a percentage of grants available to rural areas that could be looked at on a case-by-case basis that we can prioritise to ensure they do not pose a threat to our groundwater. Householders are trying to replace problematic systems in good faith and while I am not advocating grants should be freely available as we are constrained by budget, those close to water sources, for example Lough Mask, should be eligible, as householders are forever having to change the pumps and clean out the tanks.”
Cllr John O’Malley said he knew of one household system causing difficulty that was located just 100m from Lough Conn and 300m from the pumping station, adding: “There should be some mechanism for these people to apply for the grant. Being told you are in a green zone is not fair and it is very expensive to replace these systems but if funding is available towards it that will be better for the environment.”
Cllr Neil Cruise fully supported the call, saying: “We are constantly told if a system is not on the list for inspections, then not a lot can be done. It is past time for Uisce Éireann to extend water mains, especially close to towns where there is a lot of ribbon development. The new wastewater treatment plants in Foxford, Charlestown and Killala were all done in the one bundle but did not include an extension of the wastewater mains.”
Cllr Gerry Coyle said extended eligibility for the grant “needs to be done and in a hurry because a lot of people can’t afford to tackle septic tanks".
- Published in conjunction with the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
