Herr Ltd

Lobbying Organisation Herr Ltd

Date published 16 Sep, 2022

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Environment

Period 1 May, 2022 to 31 Aug, 2022

Specific Details Requesting changes to Irish Building Regulations to allow for composting toilets. To allow/ permit urine separating toilets and the treatment of urine to grow flowers or make Struvite and also to recover nitrogen as Ammonium Sulphate. To permit and approve the use of these recycled nutrients to be used in gardens & farms as a safe compost or fertiliser that does not contain toxic metals or pharmaceuticals. To ask for rainwater harvesting systems to be mandatory for all new buildings in Dublin

Intended results To significantly reduce the wasting of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from septic tanks that frequently ends up polluting local wells and streams. To minimise the excreted pharmaceuticals that are ending up in nearby wells and surface water bodies. To reduce the nutrient loading on overloaded municipal sewage treatment systems. To reduce Ireland's dependence on imported synthetic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers and replace this with lower cost recycled fertilisers for gardens & farmers. To recycle nutrients from human toilet waste and to begin to lower the cost for nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers, to promote a program of recycling nutrients from waste water at source, so that we begin to take small steps to avoid unaffordable fertiliser and food prices. To prepare for making ammonium sulphate from the ammonia that emits from stale urine using sulphuric acid. To begin to move away from our dependency on natural gas from Russia, to make synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Ollan Herr

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (2-5)

Specific Agenda. To require new buildings in the 4 Dublin Local Authority Areas to have rainwater harvesting systems for the purpose of toilet flushing, as a minimum. To allow and permit in the Irish Building Regulations, the use of composting toilets and the separation of human urine. To treat the urine by various means in order to remove the nutrient pollution that often enter and pollute our surface waters, and if possible, to recover and recycle these nutrients to agriculture as an approved fertiliser, without containing any toxic metals or excreted pharmaceuticals.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Malcolm Noonan Minister of State (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

Ossian Smyth TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)