Donegal County Council asked to combine property and septic inspection

Cllr Martin Scanlon requests that the vacant property inspection be combined with the septic tank inspection.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment grant is a scheme that provides financial support to turn a vacant or derelict building into your permanent home or a rental property.

The septic tank grant scheme is officially known as the Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (DWWTS) Grant. The grant covers 85% of eligible repair or replacement costs, up to a maximum of €12,000.

Both grants require an official inspection and approval beforehand.

Cllr Scanlon explained that there are a lot of requests from people who are looking to avail of the Septic Tank grant, and combining both inspections into one would prevent delays.

“A lot of these are coming from people who are doing the old vacant property grants,” he said. “Is there any way we could work within the council so that, when the inspection is done by a member of the Vacant Property grant team, that person could be trained to carry out the septic tank inspection as well?

“It could be applied for both grants and be sorted out as one.”

In response to the request, Claire McCleary of the Donegal County Council’s Environment Section said: “There is ongoing training taking place to train staff up in relation to the septic tank inspections.

“There is a dedicated team there now, so I will raise it with them. That would be a very useful way of addressing it, and it could be done in tandem.”