Councils must step up policing of air, noise, and water pollution and farm inspections

Nationally in 2021, more than 500 local authority staff handled almost 81,000 complaints and carried out over 205,000 environmental inspections, but responsibilities are growing each year with more national and European environmental legislation and targets, the EPA said.

Overall, water quality is in decline and agriculture continues to have a significant impact, but farm inspections remained low at 43% below pre-Covid levels, the EPA said.

"There is a need to increase the level of agricultural inspection and enforcement activity, improve consistency of approach and better target resources. 

"Although water monitoring programmes were generally completed, there is not enough evidence that this information was used effectively by local authorities to focus local enforcement efforts," it said.

Agriculture runoff remains a serious issue, an EPA report found.

Just over half of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are in satisfactory condition, with agriculture one of the sectors impacting on water quality, the agency warned.

Proper use of fertilisers and the correct management of slurry will benefit both the farmer and the environment, it added.

Air and noise enforcement continue to have the lowest level of dedicated resources within local authorities and lacks co-ordination of resources, it said.

Only six local authorities carried out multi-agency inspections under the solid fuel regulations, which tackle localised air quality issues impacting negatively on breathable air.

Many local authorities failed to fully implement noise action plans as required under the environmental noise regulations, it said.

Increased enforcement is needed by local authorities on the segregation of domestic and commercial waste, and the management of construction and demolition waste, which is the largest waste stream in Ireland with over 8m tonnes produced annually, the EPA report found.

Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Dr Tom Ryan, said: "The local environmental challenges are great. 

The water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters is in decline and there are concerning localised issues that are impacting negatively on the air we breathe. 

"The segregation of waste streams, which is so critical to supporting materials reuse in the development of a circular economy, is not as good as it needs to be."

"Local authorities need to have a more strategic approach to addressing these issues within their counties so as to protect people’s right to the enjoyment of a healthy environment. 

"While local authorities are engaged in a great deal of enforcement activity, they need to have a better focus on priority environmental issues and increase or escalate enforcement action where required."