Taxpayers will pick up tab for this climbdown
When it looks like a climbdown and it sounds like a climbdown, there's a very good chance it's a climbdown. Environment Minister Phil Hogan is a famously smooth and skilful political operator, but all his skill could not disguise his climbdown yesterday.
It was a climbdown waiting to happen, because the Government is under pressure on so many fronts -- most notably from restive Fine Gael backbenchers, who have angry constituents to appease.
These constituents took particular umbrage at the proposal to impose a €50 charge for inspections of septic tanks. The need for inspections can hardly be denied, but large numbers of rural dwellers believed they would never take place. Representatives of the Fianna Fail-Green coalition allegedly encouraged them in this belief. Can that be true?
It is different now, with the Fine Gael-Labour coalition subjected to a different kind of inspections -- by the EU-IMF-ECB troika.
But the furious reaction to the announcement of a €50 charge clearly took the Government by surprise. With future votes at stake, Mr Hogan announced yesterday that early payers of the charge would have to stump up a mere €5 instead of €50.
Since everybody likes to see the mighty humbled, the move will probably provoke mild initial amusement. If so, the amusement is not likely to last long.
Inspections are a manifest necessity. The point is to ensure that septic tanks do not pollute our rivers, lakes and supplies of drinking water. We must ascertain whether they conform to a set of standards. If not, they must be brought up to that level.
Who pays, in the first place for the inspections and in the second place for any remedial work the inspectors may order?
If every owner of a septic tank pays €5 by the due date, the Government will be in effect losing €45 per tank. No doubt the burden will fall on the taxpayers as usual.
And what if expensive remedial work is required? Hearts must sink at the thought of the amount of room here for argument, possibly litigation, certainly difficulty in collecting money due. And there is even less comfort for anyone who thinks of broader considerations.
Our country is in the direst economic straits. Everybody in public life should be focused on this enormous challenge. But Leinster House focuses again and again on issues that affect a small proportion of the population. If the Government surrenders on one, it sets a precedent for the others. It should rediscover its backbone, and encourage its backbenchers to do likewise.
Irish Independent
