Climate Change

Climate change means a significant change in the measures of climate, such as temperature, rainfall, or wind, lasting for an extended period – decades or longer.

Climate Change and You

What's happening and what impact will climate change have on Ireland?

Waste water

The Environmental Protection Agency is the environmental regulator of Uisce Éireann . We issue and enforce authorisations for waste water discharges.

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Waste water and You

How best to maintain your septic tank.

Waste

The Environmental Protection Agency licences, monitors and regulates certain activities in the waste sector.

waste truck
Waste and You

Learn more about waste

Drinking water

The Environmental Protection agency is the drinking water quality regulator, responsible for enforcing the Drinking Water Regulations for public water supplies.

Drinking water and You

Where does your drinking water come from?

Radiation

The EPA assess exposure to radiation from sources in the environment through monitoring programmes and operates a graded authorisation system to register and licence any practice involving the use of radioactive sources or equipment such as X-ray.

Radiation and You

What is Radiation and how can it affect you?

Air

The Environmental Protection Agency manages the national ambient air quality monitoring network. We also measure the levels of emissions of a number of atmospheric pollutants. The ambient air pollutants of most concern are fine particulate matter from the burning of solid fuel and nitrogen dioxide from transport emissions.

Air and You

See the air quality index for health, this will tell the about air in your area

Additional things you can do

Latest Publications

Irish sky in Cavan 2022
Air Quality in Ireland 2022

Key indicators of ambient air quality in 2022

Summary of ambient air quality in 2022 based on concentration measurements of particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals, ozone, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and benzene.

Shows the Cover of Household Municipal Waste Characterisation Report
2022 Household Municipal Waste Characterisation Report

This report presents the methodology, results and recommendations of the 2022 household municipal waste characterisation study.

Commercial Waste Characterisation Report Cover
2022 Commercial Municipal Waste Characterisation Report

The 2022 commercial municipal waste characterisation methodology, results and recommendations are presented in this report.

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EPA Annual Report and Accounts, 2022

The Environmental Protection Agency Annual Report and Accounts for 2022 provides details of the work undertaken during the year and includes the financial statements.

Ireland's GHG Projections 2022-2040 Cover
Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections 2022-2040

This report provides an updated assessment of Ireland’s total projected greenhouse gas emissions out to 2040 which includes an assessment of progress towards achieving its National ambitions under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and EU emission reduction targets for 2030 as set under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/842).

New Director Joins EPA Board

Date released: September 26, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to welcome David Flynn onto the EPA Board. David will take up his new position as Director of the EPA in October 2023.

Ireland’s ambition to move towards the health-based WHO air quality guidelines will be challenging, but will have a significantly positive impact on health

Date released: September 24, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published its annual air quality report ‘Air Quality in Ireland 2022’.

EPA calls for urgent action to improve Ireland’s household and commercial waste segregation and recycling performance

Date released: September 21, 2023

The EPA has today published the latest National Municipal Waste Characterisation Project. The project results show very little change in Ireland’s household and commercial waste management practices since 2018.

Environmental Law Conference 2023

Date released: November 16, 2023

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL) are holding a joint environmental law conference which will take place on Thursday 16th November 2023 in Dublin Castle. Convened by Dr Tom Ryan and Mr. Ciarán Toland SC, Deputy President of ICEL, the conference will consider a number of themes including Environmental Law Enforcement and Emerging Issues in Environmental Law Research.

EPA Circular Economy Conference 2023

Date released: September 27, 2023

This hybrid event will be an opportunity to learn about recent developments in the circular economy and the opportunities and challenges in implementing a circular economy in Ireland. There will be opportunities to network and participate in polling and Q&A sessions.