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Local Authorities’ environmental performance improving but continued commitment needed to deliver on National Enforcement Priorities

Date released: October 22, 2025

  • Local authorities improved their environmental enforcement performance by 20 per cent over the past three years, with 79 per cent of the National Enforcement Priority (NEP) assessments meeting the required standard in 2024. 
  • In 2024, 630 staff across 31 local authorities: 
    • conducted 227,400 environmental inspections, 
    • regulated 10,700 licences, permits and certificates, 
    • responded to 76,500 complaints, 
    • carried out 18,050 enforcement actions and 
    • initiated 414 prosecutions.
  • Six local authorities achieved high performance scores in 2024 namely Meath, Dublin City, South Dublin, Kildare, Fingal and Cork City Councils. The five lowest performing local authorities were Leitrim, Galway City, Sligo, Clare and Donegal.
  • Local authorities must prioritise and allocate appropriate resources to deliver the National Enforcement Priorities, which aim to improve air and water quality, promote increased recycling and re-use of waste and reduce people’s exposure to transport noise.

23rd October 2025: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published its report on the environmental enforcement performance of local authorities in 2024.  The report shows that the scale of environmental enforcement work carried out by local authorities in 2024 was extensive. Across the 31 local authorities, 630 staff: 

  • conducted 227,400 environmental inspections, 
  • regulated 10,700 licences, permits and certificates, 
  • responded to 76,500 complaints, 
  • carried out 18,050 enforcement actions and 
  • initiated 414 prosecutions.

The report found that local authorities have made strong progress in enforcing environmental regulations over the past three years. The report highlights improvements in areas such as tackling illegal waste activities and the enforcement of construction and demolition waste. However, it also points to the need for increased focus on water, air and noise enforcement to fully deliver on the National Enforcement Priorities. The findings underscore both the achievements to date and the ongoing challenges in delivering consistent and effective enforcement action across the country.

The EPA’s performance review found that:

  • Six local authorities achieved high performance scores in 2024. These were Meath, Dublin City, South Dublin, Kildare, Fingal and Cork City Councils. 
  • Three further local authorities consistently achieved good performance scores over the past three years: Monaghan, Carlow and Cork County Councils.
  • The five lowest performing local authorities were Leitrim, Galway City, Sligo, Clare and Donegal. 

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: 

“Strong enforcement of environmental laws is essential to detect pollution and ensure that those who break the rules are held responsible. Local authorities play a vital role in safeguarding our environment — especially when enforcement is prioritised and supported with the right resources. This report shows that most local authorities are responding to the challenge, but some such as Leitrim, Galway City, Sligo, Clare and Donegal are lagging behind and need to do better. Keeping up momentum is crucial to fully deliver on the National Enforcement Priorities and to protect our environment.” 

Dr. Mick Henry, Senior Inspector in the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: 

“Local authorities are making solid progress in waste enforcement, especially in tackling illegal activities and managing construction and demolition waste. However, enforcement in water, air and noise is showing slower progress. Agricultural run-off, trade effluent, solid fuel burning and traffic noise continue to harm the environment and public health. We are urging local authorities to strengthen their efforts in these areas to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment for all.”

The Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Report 2024 is available on the EPA website.

Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie

Notes to Editor:  

EPA’s Local Authority Performance Framework:

  • The EPA has a supervisory role over local authorities and assesses their environmental inspection and enforcement performance under the EPA's Local Authority Performance Framework.
  • There are 19 National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs) which focus on delivering positive environmental outcomes for air quality, water quality, waste management and environmental noise. The NEPs are shown in the table below. 
Theme National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs) in 2024
Waste
  • Tackling Illegal Waste Activities and Multi-Agency Sites/Operators of Concern
  • Construction and Demolition Waste
  • End-of-Life Vehicles and Metal Waste
  • Household and Commercial Waste
  • Producer Responsibilities Initiatives and additional local priorities
Water
  • Pressures from Agriculture (Farm Yards)- slurry/soiled water collection and storage
  • Pressures from Agriculture (Farmland)- slurry and fertiliser spreading
  • Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems/Septic Tanks
  • Discharge Licences/ Misconnections
  • Local Priorities and Water Quality Monitoring
Air and Noise
  • Solid Fuel
  • Air Quality Monitoring and Data Use
  • Environmental Noise Directive (ENDs)
  • Air and Noise Controls (including Planning)
  • Ongoing Air and Noise Enforcement Work
Governance Processes
  • RMCEI* Plan: Planning for the NEPs
  • RMCEI Plan: Environmental Resource Planning
  • RMCEI: Review and Reporting
  • Environmental Complaint Handling

* European Parliament and Council Recommendation 2001/331/EC on the Recommended Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections in member states, known as “RMCEI”.

  • The report sets out results of the EPA’s assessment of the 19 NEPs for the 31 local authorities. Each NEP was scored according to a four-point scale; Excellent, Strong, Moderate or Limited. To achieve a Strong or Excellent score, local authorities must provide evidence of satisfactory risk-based selection of inspections and appropriate follow-up of issues, focused on improving compliance and environmental outcomes.
  • Waste Enforcement: 
    Ireland’s waste generation is too high and there has been no significant progress to reach the mandatory recycling targets that apply from 2025. Local authorities must target waste enforcement actions at household and commercial sites, to promote waste segregation and use of the three bin system.
  • Water Enforcement: 
    Agriculture continues to have a significant impact on water quality, resulting in excess levels of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment entering our waterways. Local authorities must carry out more farm inspections and follow-up enforcement to reach the National Agricultural Inspection Programme annual target of 4,500 farms, to drive compliance with the Good Agricultural Practice regulations and reduce the impact on water quality. 

Local authorities must also prioritise the inspection and enforcement of Section 4 Discharge Licences (trade effluent), particularly those that are a significant pressure on receiving water quality.

  • Air & Noise Enforcement: 
    Local authorities assigned a much lower level of resources to air and noise enforcement (10 per cent) than waste enforcement (56 per cent) and water enforcement (34 per cent) in 2024. Whilst Ireland’s air quality met EU standards, it did not meet the stricter health guidelines from the World Health Organisation and there were concerning localised issues which led to poor air quality. Local authorities need to maintain the inspection campaign of solid fuel producers, retailers and distributors, to ensure only approved solid fuels are available for sale and to protect public health from harmful air pollutants.

Many local authorities made little progress on delivering the measures in their Noise Action Plans (NAPs) in 2024. Greater action is needed to reduce exposure to transport noise and the impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Local authorities, in collaboration with transport infrastructure bodies, need to focus implementation of NAPs on the priority areas identified using strategic noise mapping. 

  • Peat Enforcement: 
    The unauthorised extraction of peat is a significant environmental issue in some local authority areas. In June 2025, the EPA published a report on Large Scale Illegal Peat Extraction which identified seven local authorities that must take enforcement action against illegal operators; Offaly, Westmeath, Tipperary, Roscommon, Longford, Kildare and Sligo. While peat extraction is not a National Enforcement Priority, it is relevant to at least the seven local authorities, whose enforcement activity has been evaluated separate to the Local Authority Performance Framework. Local authorities need to ensure that where peat extraction is taking place, that it is properly authorised and approved under Planning legislation.

Reporting pollution: 
Download the smartphone App ‘See it? Say it!’ at from the Apple Store or  Android Play Store. This App makes it easy to report environmental pollution and to submit a photo at the touch of a button.  If a person spots environmental pollution or dumping, open the App, take a photograph, add a few simple details including your contact details, and submit the complaint. The App will send the GPS co-ordinates to your local authority and make it easy for those investigating to locate the problem. This will allow your local authority to follow up on the complaint.

You can also call the National Environmental Complaints Line on 1800 365 123. The phone line is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week and all calls will be answered by dedicated staff. The details of the complaint, such as location and nature of the complaint, will be recorded and passed to the relevant local authority, and followed up as appropriate.