Independent Councillor Paul Hogan has criticised the Department of Housing’s apparent omission of County Westmeath in the new septic tank grant scheme.
The Department of Housing has launched an interactive and colour-coded map identifying locations eligible to apply, those that are ineligible to make application and buffer zones.
Responding to the map’s publication, Cllr Hogan labelled the Government’s approach as discriminatory to rural people from Westmeath who are seeking to upgrade their septic tank.
“It is very disconcerting that the Department of Housing has launched an interactive map to identify areas that are eligible to apply for the increased septic tank grant of €12,000. In November 2023, the Department of Housing made changes to the qualifying criteria for the grant scheme and increased the grant from €5,000 to €12,000. The previous qualifying criteria that a septic tank had to be registered pre-February 2013 was removed. I welcomed these changes at the time.
“However, we now have a situation where Westmeath, and large parts of the Midlands region, are ineligible to apply for the septic tank grant scheme for defective domestic waste-water treatment systems. It appears that only rural dwellers with a defective system in areas identified as high-status objective catchment areas are eligible to apply for the scheme. There are no areas in County Westmeath identified as such on the Government’s interactive map.
“We currently have approximately 12,500 rural households in County Westmeath that are reliant on septic tanks. Obviously, only a relatively small percentage of these tanks are defective but nonetheless, the new system prohibits those householders from applying. I feel this is a discriminatory attack on the people of Westmeath and the wider Midlands region.
“I am calling on the Minister for Housing to clarify the current situation and to enable rural dwellers in all parts of County Westmeath, who have a defective septic tank, to apply for the grant of €12,000. This is a retrograde step and attempts to tie the hands of rural dwellers dependent on a septic tank. This issue needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency,” Cllr Hogan stated.
