25% of eligible householders refuse to pay septic tank charge
City councils and some of the country’s larger county councils are the worst offenders when it comes to their residents paying the waste water charge.
The latest figures since the registration deadline passed in recent days show nearly 125,000 property owners have still to register for the new inspection regime.
This is despite the fact that the State was recently ordered to pay €2m in fines to Europe over its failure to date to comply with septic tank standards.
Figures just made available from the Department of Environment, show 376,451 had registered for the charge out of an estimated 500,000 properties with waste water treatment systems.
The deadline for householders to register was Feb 1.
Only households who registered their systems by that date are eligible for financial support if their system fails an inspection.
Environment Minister Phil Hogan told Fianna Fáil’s Éamon Ó Cuív, in a parliamentary written answer, that the figures available were up until Feb 6.
Ways of pushing owners to pay up will now be considered by the minister.
Mr Hogan added: “My department will be discussing with the local authorities the approach to be taken in respect of unregistered systems in the coming weeks.”
Co Kerry has the highest level of registration — 99%, or 28,185 tanks registered.
Dublin City, on the other hand, has the lowest numbers signed up, with just 3% or 101 homeowners registered.
Elsewhere, other Dublin authorities have very low registration rates, such as South Dublin with 48% signed up.
Several of the larger local authorities across the country still have tens of thousands of waste water system owners refusing to sign up to the new inspection regime.
Outside of the capital, Cork County Council has 68% registered, or 39,757 of the 57,993 waste water systems.
Donegal also has one of the lowest rates, with 62% registered or 20,585 out of 32,955 waste water systems.
Several city councils also have some of the lower rates including Galway (56%) and Waterford (70%) and Limerick (55%).
The department says an estimated 20,000 additional registration applications have yet to processed.
The cost of the registration fee is €50. Those who fail to register could eventually face fines of up to €5,000.
Five best local authorities:
Kerry: 99% compliance (28,185)
Clare: 89% (17,624)
Leitrim County Council: 87% (6,162)
Mayo: 85% (22,703)
Cork City: 85% (499)
Five worst local authorities:
Dublin City: 3% (101)
Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown: 51% (991)
Fingal County Council: 54% (2,836).
South Dublin County: 48% (1,092)
