MonaghanIFA Environment and Rural Affairs Chairman Kathleen Ward has called
on the Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to ensure that no additional
costs or extra bureaucracy are imposed on rural dwellers if his Department
introduces new legislation for the management of waste water from rural
houses.

She said, “Rural dwellers already bear increasing water and school bus
charges, which are not imposed on people living in cities and towns. In
addition independent research carried out by the ESRI shows that the carbon
tax is imposing a disproportionately higher cost on people living in the
countryside. These costs continue to cause financial difficulties for many
rural families and the introduction of a septic tank charge is simply
unaffordable.”

Mrs Ward concluded, “The majority of septic tanks built to deal with waste
water from private households were constructed to the standard required by
the EPA and the County Councils. If the Minister is now seeking to change
these standards and impose further obligations on rural dwellers then these
measures will be resisted, unless the concerns of rural dwellers are fully
addressed.”