Access to EPA information on compliance and enforcement

The Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) maintains records that we gather and process in the course of our compliance and enforcement work.   

Since the EPA was established in 1993, we have operated a policy of providing open public access to our compliance and enforcement records. We aim to comply fully with the Aarhus Convention and associated legislation on public access.  We comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in how we manage our records and how we make them available to the public. 

You can also access information about applications for EPA licences, permits and authorisations. 

What compliance and enforcement information is available? 

You can access licence application or enforcement information about specific sites by first selecting the category of licence, permit or authorisation you wish to view: 

Drinking water 

The EPA provides information resources about the regulation of drinking water: 

• The latest Public Supply Drinking Water Report and Private Supply Drinking Water Report, which provide an overview of the quality of drinking water in public and private supplies 
• A county-by-county list, updated annually, of public supplies, group water schemes and regulated small private supplies 
• The Remedial Action List, updated quarterly, of supplies in need of upgrading, replacement or improved operational control 
• Views Drinking Water Audit Reports 
• Guidance for Drinking Water Suppliers

See general information on drinking water on the Citizens Information website. 

Industrial, waste, waste water and dumping at sea  

You can find information about compliance and enforcement of these sectors in two ways: 

On the EPA website 

Search for the specific licence, permit or authorisation you wish to view, and go to the Licence Details page. This page gives access to the following information: 

• Licence application documentation  
• Key compliance and enforcement reports and documents, which are the documents that demonstrate the compliance status of the licence:  
• Operator submissions: annual environmental performance reports (Annual Environmental Reports and Pollutant Release & Transfer Register) and self-monitoring reports 
• EPA site visit (inspection and monitoring) reports 
• Site closure and decommissioning documents 

At EPA offices 

You can visit, by appointment, any EPA office to view all ‘formal enforcement correspondence’ between the EPA and regulated facilities. This includes all communications between the holder of the licence, permit or authorisation and the EPA, for the purpose of their formal regulatory interactions.  

This correspondence includes, in addition to the information and documentation available on the Licence Details Page, as listed above, for each licence, permit or authorisation: 

• Site updates 
• Performance and monitoring reports 
• Notifications of complaints, incidents and ‘non-compliances’ (these are instances where a condition of the licence, permit or authorisation is breached) 
• Summary of complaints 
• Compliance Investigations (these are focused on fixing specific problems that we have identified and restoring compliance with the licence)  
• EPA instructions and corrective actions that address non-compliance at regulated sites to achieve improvements in compliance status 

All this information is in electronic format, and is accessible using our Licence Enforcement Access Portal (LEAP).  

Members of the public can access LEAP, by appointment only, at the following locations: 

EPA headquarters in Wexford: 053- 9160600  

Regional offices: 

Dublin  01 2680100  

Cork  021 4875540

Castlebar  094 9048400 

You can also make an appointment to visit any of the offices by email: info@epa.ie.  

Making copies of enforcement files 

A public printer/photocopier is available in the public viewing facility in each of the above EPA offices. You can print or make photocopies on the day of your visit. There is a cost of printing and copying. 

EPA’s formal Access to Information mechanisms 

You may make a request to the EPA for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act or the Access to Information in the Environment Regulations.  

See the EPA’s FOI Publication Scheme. 

Learn more 

Legislation on public access to information on the environment 

Aarhus Convention 1998

Freedom of Information Act 2014

Access to Information on the Environment Regulations

Some useful terms 

Formal enforcement correspondence: This includes all communications between the holder of the licence, permit or authorisation and the EPA for the purpose of their formal regulatory interactions. 

Self-monitoring reports: These are reports of the monitoring that operators are required to carry out under their licences. This can include monitoring of:  

• Emissions to air, water and sewer 
• Surface and groundwater quality 
• Air quality, odour, noise and dust