Labour T.D., for Cork South-West Michael McCarthy has welcomed an announcement by Minister Phil Hogan, which confirms that the septic tank charge will be €5 for people who register within the first three months of the scheme going live, and not the €50 charge initially mooted.

Mr McCarthy said: "This is a significant development which will calm many fears of septic tank owners in rural communities the length and breadth of Ireland. The Minister has decided to set the registration fee at €5 instead of the proposed €50 for the first three months to incentivise owners to register early. People should now register before the 30th June 2012 to avail of the lower fee. The deadline for registration is March 2013.

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"This puts to bed the considerable and very regrettable scaremongering that has been orbiting this particular issue over the past two months. Such criticisms were totally unnecessary and merely did a disservice to the democratic process."

Mr McCarthy also welcomed the Minister's announcement that a very practical approach will be taken to inspections, and his clarity around some of the practical standards will be included in the inspection guidelines.

He continued: "Once the Department completes its consultation with the EPA and the European Commission, the guidelines will be announced and a four week public consultation period will follow.

"This is a very practical response to an ongoing problem identified in 2009 when the European Court of Justice ruled that Ireland was in breach of an EU Water Framework Directive."

(CD/GK)