asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will arrange for an inquiry into the effectiveness of the system used in Northern Ireland at present, particularly those involving the use of filter beds, for the treatment and eventual disposal of sludge and sludge cake, to see how they can be modernised to achieve the standards recommended by the Royal Commission.

No. I am not aware of any significant problem resulting from the treatment of sewage using the biological filtration process. This is a long established process commonly used throughout the United Kingdom and the effluent it produces is well within Royal Commission standards.