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The environmental role of local authorities 

Local authorities (city and county councils) play a key role in protecting Ireland's environment.

There are 31 local authorities in Ireland. Their environmental teams work across waste, water, air and noise to enforce legislation and protect local communities.

Local authorities:

  • enforce over 10,000 licences, permits and certificates
  • carry out over 250,000 inspections annually
  • investigate environmental complaints from the public
  • take enforcement actions and prosecutions 

EPA support and coordination

The EPA provides a range of supports to local authorities, including:

  • coordinating the activities of the Network for Ireland’s Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (NIECE). 
  • working with local authorities to achieve and maintain high quality bathing waters. Visit beaches.ie to find out more about your local bathing waters. 
  • funding a national food waste campaign, which provides guidance and resources to help people reduce food waste. To find out more, visit Stop Food Waste.

Statutory oversight

Under Section 63 of the EPA Act, the EPA oversees the performance by local authorities of their environmental protection duties. 

The EPA measures and reports on performance using the Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Framework. 

The EPA carries out audits to assess how well local authorities are performing their environmental protection duties. 

Make an environmental complaint

You can report environmental pollution to your local authority by calling the National Environmental Complaints Line (NECL) or using the See It? Say It! App.  Find out more about this at: Make an environmental complaint.

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