COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - IRELAND Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Ireland, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.4.2019  SWD(2019) 122 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019   Country Report - IRELAND       Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life   {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 119 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 125 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 127 final} - {SWD(2019) 128 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 131 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This report has been written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission. 
Comments are welcome, please send them to ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu 

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©European Union, 2019 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 

TURNING THE EU INTO A CIRCULAR, RESOURCE-EFFICIENT, GREEN AND COMPETITIVE LOW-CARBON 

1. 
ECONOMY.............................................................................................................................................................. 4 

MEASURES TOWARDS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY ...................................................................................................................... 4 
WASTE MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................................... 6 
CLIMATE CHANGE .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 

2.  PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL ............................................................... 10 

NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY ............................................................................................................................................ 10 
MAINTAINING AND RESTORING ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR SERVICES ......................................................................................... 11 
ESTIMATING NATURAL CAPITAL ...................................................................................................................................... 11 
INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES ................................................................................................................................................. 12 
SOIL PROTECTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 
MARINE PROTECTION ................................................................................................................................................... 14 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS’ HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE .................................................................................... 15 

AIR QUALITY ............................................................................................................................................................... 15 
INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 16 
NOISE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 17 
WATER QUALITY AND MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................... 18 
CHEMICALS ................................................................................................................................................................. 19 
MAKING CITIES MORE SUSTAINABLE ................................................................................................................................. 20 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS .............................................................................. 23 

4.  GREEN TAXATION, GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING AND INVESTMENTS ......... 23 

GREEN TAXATION AND ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMFUL SUBSIDIES ............................................................................................ 23 
GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ........................................................................................................................................ 24 
WORK BEING UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF INTERREG EUROPE GPP4GROWTH COULD BE RELEVANT IN THIS CONTEXT. ........................ 24 
ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING AND INVESTMENTS .................................................................................................................. 24 

5. 

STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ..................................................................................... 29 

INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE ............................................................................................. 29 
COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE .............................................................................................................................................. 30 
EFFECTIVENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ADMINISTRATIONS ...................................................................................................... 31 
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 33 
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN SDGS ............................................................................ 34 

2 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Executive summary 

Ireland  and  the  Environmental  Implementation  Review 
(EIR) 

In  the  2017  EIR,  the  main  challenges  identified  for  the 
implementation  of  EU  environmental  policy  and  law  in 
Ireland were: 

 

the  need  to  complete  the  Natura  2000  designation 
process for terrestrial and marine sites; 
 
the need to protect the raised and blanket bogs;  
  maintaining  the  important  investments  required  for 
water treatment, given the urgent  need to invest  in 
water infrastructure. 

Since  the  2017  EIR,  Ireland  has  not  organised  an  EIR 
national  dialogue  that  would  have  made  it  possible  to 
address the above challenges. 

learning 

In 2017, the Commission launched a new tool to promote 
peer-to-peer 
environmental 
authorities.  The  tool  is  called  TAIEX-EIR  P2P  (short  for 
Information  Exchange  – 
‘Technical  Assistance  and 
Environmental Information Report – Peer-to-Peer). 

between 

Ireland has made good use of TAIEX-EIR P2P by hosting a 
workshop on waste management, providing peer-to-peer 
expertise to Romania on managing the closure and after-
care of certain landfill sites, and a workshop on the urban 
green  economy.  The  latter  was  open  to  participation  by 
winning cities in the Green Leaf network from across the 
EU (like Galway).  

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 EIR 

Ireland  has  made  some  progress  on  the  designation  of 
nature sites and special area of conservation (SAC) sites. 
It  has  also  made  some  progress  on  drawing  up 
conservation objectives for these sites. However, there is 
still a lack of clarity on Ireland’s conservation measures. 

Since  the  2017  EIR,  Ireland  has  also  made  progress  in 
finalising the national raised bog SAC management plan. 
It  has  also  improved  the  protection  of  raised  bog  sites 
and  begun  to  restore  them.  However,  Ireland  has  only 
made slow progress in protecting blanket bog sites. 

Water treatment continue to be a concern. There is a low 
compliance  rate  with  the  Urban  Wastewater  Treatment 
Directive.  This  is  due  to  the  large  number  of  non-
compliant  agglomerations,  one  of  which 
is  an 
agglomeration with a population equivalent of more than 
2 000 000  population  equivalent  (p.e.).  Finally,  almost 
half  of  the  agglomerations  that  are  required  to  have 
more stringent treatment systems in place are also non-
compliant.  Ireland  also  has  problems  with  its  drinking 
water.  The  quality  of  Ireland’s  bathing  waters  is  below 

average. The country’s new water pricing system requires 
monitoring  to  ensure  that  it  works  in  practice.  The 
abstraction  of  water  and  hydromorphological  changes 
are still not well controlled. 

On  air  quality,  Ireland  has  made  some  progress  in 
reducing  emissions.  However,  the  levels  of  nitrogen 
oxides  are  still  above  national  emission  ceilings.  In 
addition,  emissions  of  ammonia  have  been  increasing 
since  2011  and  were  above  the  specified  EU  emission 
limit in 2016. 

On  waste  policy,  Ireland  has  made  some  progress  in 
applying  economic  instruments.  The  rate  of  increase  in 
recycling  is  flattening  out  with  movements  away  from 
landfilling tending to go to incineration. 

Access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters  remains  an 
issue.  The  Commission  is  concerned  about  the  cost  of 
bringing an environmental legal action in Ireland. 

Examples of good practice 

is  one  of  the 

Ireland 
few  countries  with  a 
geographical  information  system  (GIS)  service  that 
provides  detailed  data  on  ecosystems  and  their 
services  that  is  also  available  to  the  public.  This  GIS 
service is accessible to the public online. 
Ireland 
in  environmental  R&D, 
attracting many researchers  and a  lot of early-stage 
green investment. 
Ireland  has  made  good  use  of  EU  co-financing  for 
environmental  projects  (especially  through  the  LIFE 
programme and European Investment Bank loans). 

is  very  strong 

 

 

 

3 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

circular  economy,  even  if  it  has  had  a  national  resource 
efficiency  programme  since  20045.  Ireland’s  circular 
economy  efforts  would  be  strengthened  by  adopting  a 
more consistent policy approach. 

“Towards  a  Resource  Efficient  Ireland”  is  a  national 
strategy  to  2020  that  incorporates  Ireland’s  National 
Waste  Prevention  Programme  (NWPP).  It  sets  out  the 
supporting  waste 
current  national  approach 
prevention  and  the  circular  economy,  and  highlight  the 
key role of the National Waste Prevention Programme in 
delivering  initiatives  and  supports  to  promote  Ireland’s 
transition  to  a  low-carbon,  circular  economy  as  well  as 
providing  leadership  on  national  priorities  such  as  food 
waste prevention. 

to 

Ireland  performs  above  the  EU  average  in  resource 
productivity6 (a measure of how efficiently the economy 
uses  material  resources  to  produce  wealth),  at  EUR 
2.31/kg  in  2017  (i.e.  EUR  2.31  of  value  is  produced  on 
average  for  every  kilogram  of  resources  used;  the  EU 
average is EUR 2.04/kg). Figure 1 shows there has been a 
significant  increase  in  resource  productivity  since  2010. 
This was followed by a decrease in resource productivity 
from 2015 to 2017. 
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20177 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Circular  Economy  Action 
Plan in 2015 and the setting up of a related stakeholder 
platform  in  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  a 
new  package  of  deliverables  in  January  20181.  This 
included  additional  initiatives  such  as:  (i)  an  EU  strategy 
for plastics; (ii) a Communication on how to address the 
interplay  between  chemical,  product  and  waste 
legislation; (iii) a report on critical raw materials; and (iv) 
a  framework  to  monitor  progress  towards  a  circular 
economy2. 

The  circular  (secondary)  use  of  material  in  Ireland  was 
1.7 %  in  2016.  This  is  well  below  the  EU-28  average  of 
11.7 %3. 

In  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on  attitudes  of 
EU  citizens  towards  the  environment,  85 %  of  Irish 
people  said  they  were  concerned  about  the  effects  of 
plastic products on the environment  (the EU-28 average 
was  87 %).  91 %  of  Irish  people  said  they  were  worried 
about  the  impact  of  chemicals  (the  EU-28  average  was 
90 %)4.  Moreover,  94 %  of  Irish  people  support  greater 
EU  investment  in  environmental  protection  (the  EU-28 
average  was  85 %).  There  appears  to  be  support  in  Irish 
and 
society 
environmental protection actions. 

initiatives 

economy 

circular 

for 

Ireland has actively promoted the circular economy at an 
international  level.  For  example,  Ireland  participated  in 
the  first  World  Circular  Economy  Forum  in  Helsinki,  and 
gave a very strong message of long-term support for the 
transition towards a more circular economy. But despite 
the government’s vocal support for the circular economy, 
Ireland  still  does  not  have  a  national  strategy  for  the 

1 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
2 COM(2018) 029. 
3 Eurostat, Circular Economy Indicators 
4 European Commission, Special 486 Eurobarometer, ‘Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment’, 2017. 

Measuring  the  transition  of  a  certain  country  towards  a 
more  circular  economy  is  a  complex  task.  However,  the 
number  of  EU  Ecolabel  products  and  EMAS-licensed 
organisations  (EMAS  is  the  European  Commission’s  Eco-
Management  and  Audit  Scheme  –  a  programme  to 

5EPA, Towards a Resource Efficient Ireland.  
6 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 
7 Eurostat, Resource productivity. 

4 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

to  behave 

in  a  more 
encourage  organisations 
environmentally sustainable way) in a country can give a 
rough  measurement  of  this  transition.  These  two 
indicators  show  to  what  extent  the  circular  economy 
transition  is  engaging  the  private  sector  and  other 
national  stakeholders.  These  two  indicators  also  show 
the  commitment  of  public  authorities  to  policies  that 
support  the  circular  economy.  As  of  September  2018, 
Ireland had only 35 products and 5 licences registered in 
the EU Ecolabel scheme out of a total of 71 707 products 
and  2167  in  the  EU.  This  shows  a  low  take-up  of  these 
schemes 
three 
organisations from Ireland were registered in EMAS as of 
May  20189.  However,  Ireland  has  greater  take-up  in  the 
ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard 
– over 600 companies. 

the  country8.  Moreover,  only 

in 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Irish  SMEs  continue  to  score  in  line  with  the  EU-28 
average 
in  environmental  dimension  of  the  small 
business act, as shown in Figure 2. 

The  percentage  of  Irish  SMEs  that  benefit  from  public 
support  for  their  production  of  green  products  (31 %) 
remains well above the EU average (25 %). However, the 
percentage  of  Irish  companies  that  generate  more  than 
50 % of their turnover from  such products is lower than 
the EU average. 
Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs10  

The  latest  Eurobarometer  on  ‘SMEs,  resource  efficiency 
and green markets’11 asked companies about both recent 
resource-efficiency actions they had taken and additional 
resource-efficiency  actions  they  planned  to  take  in  the 
next  2  years.  The  Eurobarometer  then  compared  these 
responses with responses given to the same questions in 
2015.  Only  5 %  of  Irish  companies  have  not  taken  any 
resource efficiency measures recently, the second-lowest 
rate  in  the  EU-28.  In  addition,  only  10 %  of  companies 
said they would not  take any further resource-efficiency 
measures  in  the  next  2  years.  The  Eurobarometer  also 
shows  that  waste  minimisation  and  recycling  score 
highest in the future ambitions of Irish SMEs. In almost all 
measures of environmental performance, Irish  SMEs are 
significantly more ambitious than 2 years earlier. 

The  Eurobarometer  showed  that  24 %  of  Irish  SMEs 
(compared  to  22 %  in  the  EU-28)  relied  on  external 
support  in  their  efforts  to  be  more  resource  efficient. 
Among Irish SMEs, grants and subsidies are mentioned by 
34 %  as  helpful.  29 %  of  Irish  SMEs  (the  second-highest 
percentage in the EU-28) said there was a need for advice 
on  funding  and  financial  planning  of  investments.  Irish 
respondents  were  also  more  likely  than  the  EU  average 
respondent  to  say  that  databases  containing  best 
practices and self-assessment tools were useful. 

invest 

in  resource 
The  ambitions  of  Irish  SMEs  to 
efficiency  are 
is  considerable 
increasing,  and  there 
potential  to  make  these  investments  in  Ireland.  The 
Eurobarometer  survey  showed  that  Irish  SMEs  consider 
advice from business associations, the private sector and 
the  public  sector  to  be  almost  equally  important.  Some 
evidence can be found in www.greenbusiness.ie. 

Eco-innovation 

In 2018, Ireland ranked ninth on the European Innovation 
Scoreboard  2018,  making  it  the  eighth-fastest-growing 
innovator  in  the  EU  (an  8.5 %  increase  since  2010)12. 
Ireland’s eco-innovation performance and transition to a 
circular economy has continued to improve in 2016-2017 
reaching a score of 99 against an EU-average of 100. This 
is a slight increase compared to its performance in 2014-
2015  (when  it  scored  94).  Ireland  ranks  11th  in  the  EU 
Eco-innovation Index. 

8 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
9 European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. 
10 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet - Ireland, p.16. 

11 Flash Eurobarometer 456 ‘SME, resource efficiency and green 
markets’ January 2018. The 8 dimensions were Save energy; Minimise 
waste; Save materials; Save Water; Recycle by reusing material 
internally; Design products easier to maintain, repair or reuse; Use 
renewable energy; Sell scrap materials to another company. 
12 European Commission, European innovation Scoreboard 2018. 

  5 

 
 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation index (EU=100)13 

in 

be 

Ireland’s 

identified 

This  score  is  very  close  to  the  EU-average,  so  Ireland’s 
performance  is  satisfactory.  However,  some  weaknesses 
eco-innovation 
can 
performance.  The  country  needs  to  increase  investment 
on  innovation  in  firms  and  manufacturers.  On  resource 
efficiency,  all  indicators  are  above  the  EU-average.  This 
highlights  the  progress  made  by  Ireland  in  material 
productivity and energy productivity. Ireland is also very 
strong  in  R&D,  attracting  many  researchers  and  large 
amounts of early-stage green investment. 

Figure 4: Ireland’s eco-innovation performance 

Innovation and applied research are important elements 
of  the  National  Waste  Prevention  Programme  which 
supports  the  circular  economy,  waste  prevention  and 
better resource management in Ireland. In 2018, the EPA 
launched  a  €600,000  funding  programme  to  support 
innovators called: Innovation for a Circular Economy. 

Since  2015,  several  significant  policies  have  been 
developed that promote eco-innovation. These include: 

13 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory: Eco-innovation 
Scoreboard 2017. 

  6 

 
 
 
 

a national planning framework for Ireland; 
a national waste prevention programme; 
a strategic plan for the environment; 
programmes  on  renewable  energy  (the  national 
energy efficiency action plan, the energy policy white 
paper, 
Ireland’s  first  mitigation  plan,  and  the 
national renewable energy action plan). 

The  Environmental  Protection  Agency  and  Enterprise 
Ireland have developed several support measures to help 
businesses  adopt 
circular-
economy  practices.  The  government  has  also  adopted 
green  public-procurement  initiatives,  which  increasingly 
emphasise the procurement of resource-efficient or less-
polluting goods and services14. 

resource-efficient  and 

2019 priority action 

  Develop  a  more  coherent  circular  economy  policy 

framework. 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
(i)  fully 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
landfill  diversion 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
targets, etc.; 
(ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste15  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets16. 

Municipal waste generation in Ireland (Figure 5) fell from 
624 kg/pc  (kilograms  per  capita)  in  2010  to  581 kg/pc  in 
2016.  This  was  still  higher  than  the  EU  average  of 
486 kg/pc  for  the  same  year.  Figure  5  depicts  municipal 
waste by treatment type in Ireland. 

The steady progress Ireland made in meeting its recycling 
targets  has  slowed  in  recent  years  (Figure  6).  However, 
projections  indicate  that  Ireland  should  be  very  close  to 
meeting  its  targets  for  2020.  The  pay-as-you-throw 
scheme (i.e. charging households each time they dispose 

14 European Commission, Eco-Innovation Observatory: Eco-innovation 
Country Profiles 2016-2017. 
15 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
16 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. 

 
 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

of municipal waste) introduced in 2017 is expected to be 
the driving force for compliance with these targets. 

hierarchy’  (i.e.  to  produce 
encouraging waste prevention and waste recycling). 

less  residual  waste  by 

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  by  treatment  type  in  Ireland 
2009-201617 

It is worth noting Ireland has made an effort to increase 
public awareness and participation via several awareness 
and  education  measures,  including  on  food  waste  and 
separate collection. 
Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2009-201619 

Although  the  recycling  rate  has  not  changed  greatly,  in 
2016  Ireland  recycled  41%  of  municipal  waste,  it  is 
noteworthy that from 2013 to 2016 Ireland substantially 
reduced 
landfill  rate  (from  38 %  to  26 %),  and 
increased waste incineration (from 16 % to 29 %). Behind 
this  successful  reduction  in  landfilling  are  economic 
instruments  such  as  an  increased  levy  on  waste  sent  to 
landfill.  

its 

that 

Ireland  must  ensure 

The  increased  use  of  incineration  must  also  be  closely 
monitored. 
increased 
incineration  does  not  prevent  it  from  meeting  the  post-
2020  recycling  targets18.  Similar  caution  is  required  for 
future  investments  in  mechanical  biological  treatment 
plants based on mixed waste input. Ireland must  ensure 
these plants do not prevent it from meeting its recycling 
targets. 

Ireland 

In  addition, 

Since the last report, Ireland has reduced the number of 
households  that  do  not  have  a  contract  with  a  waste-
introduced  a 
removal  service. 
requirement  to  sort  household  food  waste.  Ireland  has 
also phased out flat rate charging and now requires that 
some form of weight- or lift-based charging is applied to 
residual  household  waste.  Ireland  could  achieve  even 
more  progress  by 
for 
introducing 
households  to  move  waste  further  up  in  the  ‘waste 

incentives 

tax 

17 Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations. For Ireland, 2015 
data were not available however it is published here: EPA, Progress to 
EU targets.  
18 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 

  7 

Experts  from  Ireland’s  environmental  authorities  shared 
their experience on managing the closure and after-care 
of  certain 
landfills  with  Romanian  environmental 
authorities  in  a  TAIEX-EIR  expert  visit  in  Bucharest,  held 
to  process 
in January  2018.  The  EPA  continues 
applications  from  Local  Authorities  in  Ireland  in  relation 
to  "closed 
in  accordance  with  the  Waste 
Management  Regulations.  The  EPA  has  adopted  a  risk 
based  assessment  procedure  that  allows  all  historic 
unregulated  waste  disposal  sites  to  be  identified;  the 
potential  risks  to  be  assessed  and  then  the  appropriate 
remedial  measures  or  corrective  actions  to  be  put  in 
place. 

landfills" 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

 

instruments, 

Introduce  new  policy 
including 
economic instruments, to promote prevention, make 
reuse and recycling more economically attractive.  
Shift  reusable  and  recyclable  waste  away  from 
incineration and landfilling. 
Increase  recycling  rates  by  making  the  separate 
collection  obligation  more  effective.  Carry  out  a 
review  of  recent  reforms  to  the  waste  collection 
market. 
Provide  more 
management data. 

timely  waste  generation  and 

19 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste, 2015 data not available. 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Climate change 

The EU has committed to undertaking ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) covers all large 
greenhouse  gas  emitters  in  the  industry,  power  and 
aviation  sectors  in  the  EU.  The  EU  ETS  applies  in  all 
Member States and has a very high compliance rate. Each 
year,  installations  cover  around  99  %  of  their  emissions 
with the required number of allowances. 

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
1990-2017 (1990=100%)20 

in  2017  exceeded  the  AEAs  by  7 
data,  emissions 
percentage points (Figure 8). For 2020, Ireland's national 
target  under  the  EU  Effort  Sharing  Decision  is  to  reduce 
emissions by 20 % compared to 2005. For 2030, Ireland's 
national  target  under  the  Effort  Sharing  Regulation  will 
be to reduce emissions by 30 % compared to 2005. With 
existing  measures,  the  2020  target  is  projected  to  be 
missed  by  20  percentage  points  and  the  2030  target  by 
31 percentage points.  

The  Climate  Action  and  Low-Carbon  Development  Act 
created  statutory  obligations  for  successive  five-yearly 
national  mitigation  plans,  which  will  detail  actions 
required  to  achieve  the  greenhouse  gas  mitigation 
obligations of the Irish State  under EU and international 
law.  The  long-term  goal  will  be  a  reduction  of  CO2 
emissions  of  80%  from  1990  by  2050  across  electricity 
generation, built environment and transport sectors, and 
striving  for  carbon  neutrality  in  agriculture  and  land-use 
sectors. The first National Mitigation Plan was adopted in 
2017  and  aims  to  close  the  gap  to  Ireland’s  2020  target 
and  to  prepare  for  the  2030  target.  It  contains  separate 
sectoral  mitigation  transition  statements  for  the  four 
sectors  covered  under  the  NMP,  namely  electricity 
generation, 
the  built  environment  and 
agriculture.  The  NMP  does  not  provide  a  complete 
roadmap  to  achieve  the  2050  objective,  but  begins  the 
process  of  development  of  medium  to 
long  term 
mitigation choices for the next and future decades.  

transport, 

Figure  8:  Targets  and  emissions  for  Ireland  under  the 
Effort Sharing Decision and Effort Sharing Regulation21 

For emissions not covered by the EU ETS, Member States 
have  binding  national  targets  under  the  effort  sharing 
legislation.  Ireland  had  lower  emissions  than  its  annual 
targets  under  the  Effort  Sharing  Decision  in  each  of  the 
years  2013-2015,  while  in  2016  emissions  were  slightly 
higher  than  the  annual  target.  According  to  preliminary 

20 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

  8 

Transport  represents  almost  a  quarter  of  the  EU’s  GHG 
emissions and is the main cause of air pollution in cities. 

21Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Transport  emissions  in  Ireland  increased  by  11  %  from 
2013 to 2016 (shown in Figure 9). For Ireland, emissions 
from  agriculture  are  a  particular  challenge  as  they 
constitute  30  %  of  the  emissions.  Emissions  from  this 
sector  have  been  increasing  over  the  last  years  and  are 
projected to continue increasing towards 2030.  

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203022 

enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance 
levels  to  respond  to  the  impacts  of  climate  change.  A 
non-statutory  National  Climate  Change  Adaptation 
Framework  (NCCAF)  was  published  in  2012.  As  required 
Irish  Climate  Action  and  Low  Carbon 
under  the 
Development  Act  (2015),  the  Government  published  a 
National  Adaptation  Framework  (NAF)  in  January  2018. 
The  Framework  currently  sets  out  the  national  strategy 
to reduce the vulnerability to negative effects of climate 
change,  building  on  the  work  carried  out  under  the 
NCCAF.  Reviewed  every  five  years,  the  Framework 
identifies  the  sectors  and  lead  Departments  that  will  be 
required to prepare sectoral adaptation plans in line with 
legislative  requirements  in  addition  to  requiring  local 
authorities 
strategies 
supported  by  four  newly  established  Climate  Action 
Regional offices. The statutory NAF will also provide for a 
regime to increase coordination between sectors and the 
integration  of  climate  adaptation  within  all 
further 
relevant  national  policy  and 
legislation  –  dialogue 
mechanisms  have  been  put  in  place.23  A  monitoring 
system  has  been  set  up  under  the  NAF  to  monitor 
implementation,  including  independent  review  by  the 
Climate Change Advisory Council.  

local  adaption 

to  develop 

Regarding  F-gases 
(fluorinated  greenhouse  gases), 
Member States must implement training and certification 
programmes  and  rules  for  penalties  and  notify  these 
measures  to  the  Commission  by  2017.  Ireland  has 
notified both measures. 

The  accounting  of  GHG  emissions  and  removals  from 
forests and agriculture is governed by the Kyoto Protocol. 
Reported quantities under the Kyoto Protocol for Ireland 
show net emissions of, on average, 2.6 Mt CO2-eq for the 
period  2013  to  2016.  In  this  regard  Ireland  contributes 
negatively  with  -0.7%  to  the  annual  average  sink  of  -
384.4  Mt  CO2-eq  of  the  EU-28.  Ireland  is  one  of  two  EU 
Member  States  which  show  net  emissions 
in  this 
preliminary  exercise.  Accounting  for  the  same  period 
depicts net credits of, on average, -3.9 Mt CO2-eq, which 
corresponds  to  3.4%  of  the  EU-28  accounted  sink  of  -
115.7 Mt CO2-eq. Reported net emissions are highest for 
2014 and decreased thereafter.  

The  EU  Strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change, 
adopted  in  2013,  aims  to  make  Europe  more  climate-
resilient, by promoting action by Member States, better-
informed  decision  making,  and  promoting  adaptation  in 
key vulnerable sectors. By adopting a coherent approach 
and  providing  for  improved  coordination,  it  seeks  to 

22 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

  9 

The  total  revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances  under  the  EU  ETS  over  the  years  2013-2017 
were  EUR  213  million. 
Ireland  does  not  earmark 
auctioning  revenues  for  specific  uses.  An  amount 
equalling  87  %  of  the  auctioning  revenues  has  been 
reported as spent on climate and energy purposes.  

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such  as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

23 See in particular the National Dialogue on Climate Action and the 
work of the Citizens Assembly on climate change.  

 
 
 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and biodiversity 

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
full 
biodiversity 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
improve 
and  forest  sectors  help  to  maintain  and 
biodiversity. 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

Ireland’s  third  national  biodiversity  action  plan  (2017-
24
. 
2021) was adopted in 2017

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

On  the  basis  of  the  latest  update,  Ireland’s  terrestrial 
Natura  2000  network  under  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directive  is  now  considered  to  be  complete.  However, 
the update said that further designation of SPAs (special 
protection areas) under the Birds Directive was required, 
particularly for the Corncrake (Crex crux). There are also 
significant  knowledge  and  designation  gaps  in  Ireland’s 
marine  Natura  2000  network,  especially  under  the  Birds 
Directive.  These  knowledge  and  designation  gaps  must 
be addressed. 

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  European  Court  of 
Justice  issued  a  ruling  against  Ireland  for  its  failure  to 
establish  a  complete  list  of  SCIs  (sites  of  community 
interest)  under  the  Habitats  Directive25.  However, 
Ireland’s  list  of  SCIs  is  now  considered  complete  for  the 
terrestrial environment26. The Court of Justice also ruled 
against  Ireland  in  2007  for  failing  to  designate  all  the 
most  suitable  terrestrial  territories  as  SPAs  under  the 
Birds  Directive27.  Ireland  now  appears  to  have  mostly 
rectified  this  problem.  However,  not  all  SPAs  have  been 
formally made subject to Irish statutory regulations. The 

24 Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, National 
Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021. 
25 Case C-67/99 - Commission v Ireland. 
26 For each Member State, the Commission, with assistance from the 
European Environment Agency Topic Centre for Biological Diversity, 
assesses whether the species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of 
the Habitats Directive, are sufficiently represented by the sites 
designated to date. This is expressed as a percentage of species and 
habitats for which further areas need to be designated in order to 
complete the network in that country. The current data, which were 
assessed in 2014-2015, reflect the situation up until December 2013. 
27 Case C-418/04 - Commission v Ireland. 

  10 

launched  an 

Commission  also 
investigation  on  the 
completeness  of  Ireland’s  Natura  2000  network  for  the 
marine environment. Significant gaps remain in Ireland’s 
marine  SPA  network,  and  the  completeness  of  the  SCI 
marine proposal remains to be determined. 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  by  mid-2015  Ireland  had 
designated no Natura 2000 marine sites. There has been 
some  progress  since  that  time.  By  August  2018  Ireland 
had designated 173 SACs, which  leaves most  of the SCIs 
still be designated. Furthermore, most sites still have only 
general 
targeted 
conservation measures do not exist for many sites. 

conservation 

objectives, 

and 

As mentioned in the 2017 EIR, the Commission continues 
to receive complaints about compliance with the Nature 
Directive  in  Ireland.  The  Commission’s  most  significant 
concern  is  the  conservation  of  raised  and  blanket  bogs, 
which  is  still  subject  of  an  infringement  procedure.  In 
recent  years,  Ireland  has  made  significant  progress  by 
drawing  up  a  national  peatlands  strategy  and  national 
raised-bog SAC management plan. There is a LIFE project 
for  the  restoration  of  12  raised-bog  SACs  in  Ireland,  but 
the  planned  timeframe  of  18  years  to  restore  the  other 
sites  is  too  long.  In  addition,  Ireland  has  failed  to  make 
any  significant  progress  in  the  management  of  blanket 
bogs.  In  particular,  it  has  not  made  any  progress  in 
ensuring  that  turf  cutting  is  carried  out  in  a  way  that  is 
compatible with the conservation of this habitat. Nor has 
it made an assessment whether turf-cutting is compatible 
with the conservation of this habitat.  

Ireland  has  conservation  issues  in  SPAs  and  the  wider 
landscape. One such conservation issue is the decline of 
waders,  particularly 
for  which  some 
conservation  measures  were  initiated  in  2017.  There  is 
also a continuing need to reconcile the protection of the 
hen  harrier  with  forestry  and  wind-farm  development. 

the  curlew, 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Ireland  has  still  not  completed  a  long  overdue  threat-
response  plan  for  the  hen  harrier.  Ireland  also  needs  to 
address  the  cutting  of  hedgerows  and  the  burning  of 
uplands during the nesting season of birds. 

restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
Progress 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

The  2017  EIR  referred  to  Member  States’  most  recent 
report,  dated  2012,  on  the  conservation  status  of 
habitats  and  species.  New  data  on  the  conservation 
status  of  habitats  and  species  will  be  available  for  the 
next EIR. 

Overall,  it  is  acknowledged  that  some  improvements  in 
the  status  of  species  and  habitats  have  recently  been 
reported  in  Ireland,  where  targeted  actions  have  taken 
place at a sufficient scale. 

2019 priority actions 

  Complete  the  Natura  2000  designation  process  for 
both terrestrial and marine environments. Put in place 
the 
clearly  defined  conservation  objectives  and 
necessary  conservation  measures  so  that  they  may 
meet their objective of maintaining or restoring species 
and  habitats  of  community  interest  to  a  favourable 
conservation status across their natural range. 

  Take  action  to  ensure  that  burning 

in  uplands 
(especially in Natura 2000 areas) and hedgerow cutting 
are fully compatible with the requirements of the Birds 
and Habitats Directives. 

  Increase efforts to manage blanket bogs. 
  Take  practical  steps  to  address  the  serious  decline  of 
waders,  and 
the  conservation 
further  develop 
programme  for  the  curlew,  both  in  Natura  2000  sites 
and the wider countryside. 

Maintaining  and  restoring  ecosystems  and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
including  green 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of  green  and  blue  infrastructure  in  Ireland28  and  a 
country page on the Biodiversity Information System for 
Europe  (BISE)29.  This  information  will  also  contribute  to 
the  final  evaluation  of  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to 
2020. 

Estimating natural capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services30 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

Ireland has implemented MAES, an EU initiative to gather 
data  on  ecosystems.  Further  action  to  map  ecosystems 
and their services at local and regional levels is ongoing. 
Ireland is one of the few countries with a GIS service for 
data on ecosystems and their services. 

The Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service has mapped 
a  number  of  prioritised  ecosystem  services  using 
different tools and data31. It developed spatial indicators 
for  ecosystem-services  mapping,  and  identified  gaps  in 
data  and  knowledge.  This  mapping  was  completed  in 
2016. 

The  Irish  Forum  on  Natural  Capital  provides  a  range  of 
seminars  and  training  workshops,  aimed  at  developing 
applying the natural capital agenda in Ireland. 
The  new  national  biodiversity  action  plan  (2017-2021)32 
has  been  launched  and  includes  actions  on  ecosystem 
services. 

The  Irish  Environmental  Protection  Agency  continues  to 
fund  several  research  projects  related  to  ecosystem 

28 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy 
review.report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 
29 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 
30 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 
31 National Parks & Wildlife Service, Ecosystems Services, Mapping and 
Assessment. 
32 National Parks & Wildlife Service, National Biodiversity Plan. 

11 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

services. These projects include research on the benefits 
to  human  health  of  green  space33,  and  on  valuing  the 
significant  ecosystem  services  provided  by  Irish  coastal, 
marine and estuarine habitats34. 

At the MAES Working Group meeting held in Brussels in 
September  2018,  it  was  shown  that  Ireland  has  made 
substantial progress since January 2016 in implementing 
MAES  (Figure  10).  This  assessment  was  made  by  the 
ESMERALDA  project35,  and  based  on  27  implementation 
questions.  The  ESMERALDA  project  is  updated  every  6 
months. 

Figure 10: Level of implementation of MAES (September 
2018) 

The  Irish  Forum  on  Natural  Capital36  engages  with  Irish 
business  by  promoting  two  business-related  initiatives: 
business  guidelines  and  the  biodiversity  framework  for 
corporate  engagement.  One  set  of  business  guidelines 
produced by the Irish Forum on Natural Capital is the All-
Ireland  Pollinator  Plan’s  business  guidelines.  These 
guidelines  advise  Irish  businesses  on  actions  they  can 
take  to  help  pollinators.  Post-graduate  researchers  at 
Trinity  College  Dublin  are  also  conducting  research 
focused on the drivers of voluntary corporate biodiversity 
management.  In  addition,  Business  in  the  Community 
Ireland37  provides  its  members  with  advice  on  best 
practice in corporate social responsibility. 

Invasive alien species 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

Ireland contributed to the first update of the EU’s list of 
risk 
invasive  alien 
assessments for invasive alien species present in Ireland: 

species  by 

submitting 

three 

tinctoria)  and  giant 

Nuttall’s  waterweed  (Elodea  nuttallii),  Chilean  rhubarb 
(Gunnera 
(Gunnera 
manicata).  The 
these  species  were 
two  of 
considered  compliant  with  the  criteria  for  listing  and 
were  listed  in  the  update.  However,  the  submission  for 
giant  rhubarb  was  not  considered  compliant  with  the 
criteria for listing. 

rhubarb 

first 

In  2017,  the  EU  released  a  report  on  the  baseline 
distribution  of  invasive  alien  species  of  Union  concern. 
Ireland  reviewed 
its  country  and  grid-level  data  to 
contribute to this report. The report shows that of the 37 
species  on  the  first  Union  list,  12  have  already  been 
observed  in  the  environment  in  Ireland.  All  12  of  these 
invasive  alien  species  are  considered  as  ‘established’  In 
Ireland  (a  species  being  established  in  a  new  habitat 
means  it  can  successfully  produce  viable  offspring  with 
the  likelihood  of  continued  survival).  The  most  widely 
distributed  of  these  invasive  alien  species  is  the  grey 
squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). 

Figure  11:  Number  of  IAS  of  EU  concern,  based  on 
available georeferenced information for Ireland38 

to 

Ireland  has  submitted 

Between  the  entry  into  force  of  the  EU  list  and  18 May 
five  early  detection 
2018, 
notifications 
the  European  Commission.  These 
notifications  are  required  under  Article 16(2)  of  the 
Invasive  Alien  Species  Regulation  whenever  an  invasive 
alien species of Union concern not previously present in a 
country  is  detected  in  a  country  for  the  first  time. 
Notifications  are  also  required  when  an  invasive  alien 
species of Union concern that was previously believed to 
be  eradicated  from  a  country  reappears.  Two  of  these 
notifications  were  for  detections  of  muntjac  deer 
(Muntiacus reevesi), and there was one notification each 

33 Eco-Health. 
34 Nuigalway.  
35 Esmeralda Project. 
36 Irish Forum on Natural Capital. 
37 Business in the Community Ireland. 

38 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2017, 
EUR 28596 EN, doi:10.2760/772692. 

12 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

for  the  detection  of  coypu  (Myocastor  coypus),  curly 
waterweed  (Lagarosiphon  major)  and  raccoon  (Procyon 
lotor).  The  raccoon  was  eradicated,  as  was  the  muntjac 
(after  its  first  detection).  Eradication  measures  are  now 
ongoing for the muntjac (after it was detected a  second 
time)  and  curly  waterweed.  Although  10  coypu  have 
been 
is  not  yet  considered 
eradicated. 

the  coypu 

trapped, 

Ireland  has  notified  the  Commission  of  its  competent 
authorities  responsible  for  implementing  the  Invasive 
Alien Species (IAS) Regulation as required by Article 24(2) 
of  the  IAS  Regulation.  The  adoption  of  the  national  act 
containing  the  relevant  national  provisions  on  penalties 
applicable to infringements as required by Article 30(4) of 
the IAS Regulation is in progress. 

2019 priority action 

 

Ireland is urged to notify its provisions on penalties, 
as required by Article 30(4) of the IAS Regulation, as 
soon as its national legislation is adopted. 

Soil protection 

EU soil thematic strategy underlines the need to ensure a 
sustainable  use  of  soils.  This  entails  preventing  further 
soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as  well  as 
restoring  degraded  soils.  The  2011  Roadmap  to  a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly degrading in the EU. 
The  percentage  of  artificial  land39  in  Ireland  (Figure  12) 
can  be  seen  as  a  measure  of  the  relative  pressure  on 
nature  and  biodiversity.  This  percentage  also  gives  an 
idea  of  the  environmental  pressure  caused  by  people 
living  in  urbanised  areas.  Population  density  is  a  similar 
measure. 

Ireland  is  close  to  the  EU  average  for  artificial  land 
coverage,  with  3.9 %  of  its  land  under  artificial  cover. 
Ireland’s population density is 69.3/km240, which is below 
the EU average of 118/km2. 

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 

report  of  the  European  Commission41  estimated  that 
potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are  still 
taking place on approximately 2.8 million sites in the EU. 
At EU level,  650 000 of these sites have been registered 
in national or regional inventories. 65 500  contaminated 
sites already have been remediated.  
Figure 12: Share of artificial land cover, 2015 42 

Ireland  has  reported  66  sites  that  need  or  might  need 
remediation  or  risk-reduction  measures.Soil  erosion  by 
water is a natural process, but this natural process can be 
aggravated by climate change and human activities such 
as  inappropriate  agricultural  practices,  deforestation, 
forest  fires  or  construction  works.  High  levels  of  soil 
erosion  can  reduce  productivity  in  agriculture,  and  can 
have negative and transboundary impacts on biodiversity 
and  ecosystem  services.  High  levels  of  soil  erosion  can 
also  have  negative  and  transboundary  impacts  on  rivers 
and  lakes  (due  to  increased  sediment  volumes  and 
transport of contaminants).  According to the RUSLE2015 
model43, Ireland has an average soil loss rate by water of 

39 Artifical land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 
40 Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 region. 

41 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio (2018), Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”. 
42 Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by NUTS 2 regions. 
43 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., 
Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L., Alewell, C., The new assessment of 
soil loss by water erosion in Europe, (2015) Environmental Science and 
Policy, 54, pp. 438-447. 

13 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

0.96  tonnes  per  hectare  per  year  (t ha−a yr−y),  compared 
to  a  European  mean  of  2.46  (t ha−a yr−y).  This  indicates 
that soil erosion is relatively low.  

Ireland  has  an  average  concentration  of  soil  organic 
land  cover  types) 
carbon  of  127.4 g/kg  (across  all 
compared  to  a  European  mean  of  47 g/kg.  These 
estimates  were  derived  from  the  soil  organic  carbon 
measurements  made  by  the LUCAS  survey  2009-2012  in 
the upper 20 cm of topsoil in the EU. 

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second largest 
carbon sink in the world after the oceans. 

Marine protection 

EU coastal and marine policy and legislation require that 
by  2020  the  impact  of  pressures  on  marine  waters  be 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status (GES) and ensure that coastal zones are managed 
sustainably. 

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)44 aims 
to achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine 
waters  by  2020.  To  that  end,  Member  States  must 
develop  a  marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and 
cooperate  with  the  EU  countries  that  share  the  same 
marine (sub)region. 

The  Convention  for  the  Protection  of  The  Marine 
Environment  of  the  North-East  Atlantic  (the  OSPAR 
Convention) makes an important  contribution to Ireland 
achieving  the  goals  required  by  the  Directive.  Member 
State  marine  strategies  must  comprise  different  steps 
implemented  over  six-year 
that  are  developed  and 
cycles. The most recent step required Member States to 
set up and report to the Commission their programme of 
measures (a list of policy actions a Member State plans to 
take)  by  31 March  2016.  The  Commission  assessed 
whether the Irish measures were appropriate for making 
Irish  marine  waters  reach  good  environmental  status 
(GES)45. 

Ireland’s  programme  of  measures  did  not  report  any 
‘new’  measures  —  specifically  designed  for  MSFD 
purposes.  On  the  contrary,  it  relies  heavily  on  measures 
already  in  place  (i.e.  measures  created  by  other  legal 
frameworks). 

Ireland’s  measures  include  a  set  of  ‘horizontal’,  general 
measures.  They  range  from  awareness-raising  activities 
to the implementation of marine spatial plans for all Irish 
marine waters by 2021. 

44Directive 2008/56/EC. 
45 Commission report assessing Member States’ programme of 
measures under the MSFD (forthcoming publication). 

Ireland’s  programme  of  measures  addresses  the  most 
relevant  pressures  on  Irish  marine  and  coastal  habitats. 
However,  it  does  not  fully  cover  certain  pressures  and 
activities or the impacts of these activities. For  example, 
it does not  cover impacts on water-column habitats and 
seabed habitats. Nor does it cover the extraction of other 
Irish 
species 
programme  of  measures  partially  addresses  the  MSFD 
requirements. 

(seaweed  harvesting).  Overall, 

the 

2019 priority actions 

  Determine 

the 

timelines 

for  achieving  good 
environmental  status,  when  these  have  not  been 
reported. 
Provide  more  information  about  measures.  Decide 
on more measures that directly impact the pressures 
on  marine  and  coastal  habitats.  Quantify  the 
expected  level  of  reduction  in  the  pressure  as  a 
result of these measures. 
Ensure  regional  cooperation  with  Member  States 
sharing the  same marine (sub)region to address the 
leading sources of pressures. 
Ensure reporting of the different elements under the 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  by  the  set 
deadline 

 

 

 

14 

                                                                 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

3. Ensuring citizens’ health and quality of life 

Air quality 

EU clean air  policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach  full  compliance  with  EU  air  quality  legislation  and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation46,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 

In recent years, emissions of hazardous substances to the 
air  have  decreased  in  Ireland47.  The  emission  reductions 
between  1990  and  2014  mentioned  in  the  EIR  2017 
continued  between  2014  and  2016,  with  emissions  of 
sulfur  oxides  (SOx)  falling  by  18.47 %  and  emissions  of 
fine  particulate  matter  (PM2.5)  falling  by  3.67 %  over 
those  three  years.  In  the  same  three-year  period, 
emissions  of  non-methane  volatile  organic  compounds 
(NMVOCs) increased by 2 %, emissions of ammonia (NH3) 
increased  by  7.74 %  and  emissions  of  nitrogen  oxides 
(NOx)  increased  by  3.59 %  (see  also  Figure  13  on  total 
PM2.5  and  NOx  emissions  per  sector).  Emissions  of 
ammonia  exceeded  the  specified  EU  emission  limit  in 
2016 for the first time. 
Figure 13: PM2.5 and NOx emissions by sector in Ireland48 

46 European Commission, Air Quality Standards, 2016. 
47 See EIONET Central Data Repository and Air pollutant emissions data 
viewer (NEC Directive). 
48 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 

15 

Despite  these  emission  reductions,  Ireland  must  make 
additional  efforts  to  meet  the  emission  reduction 
commitments set by the new National Emissions Ceilings 
Directive 49 for 2020- 2029 and for any year from 2030. 

Figure  14:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201750 

For  2017, Ireland did not  report  any exceedances above 
EU air quality standards51. At the same time, air quality in 
Ireland is reported to be generally good, with exceptions. 
For  2015,  the  European  Environment  Agency  estimated 
that  about  1 100  premature  deaths  in  Ireland  were 
attributable  to  fine  particulate  matter52  concentrations, 
20  premature  deaths  were  attributable  to  ozone53 
concentrations54  and  30  premature  deaths  were 
attributable  to  nitrogen55  dioxide  concentrations.  The 
GLOBE  project 
raising 
awareness of health56. 

is  a  citizen-based  activity 

According to a special report from the European Court of 
Auditors57,  EU  action  to  protect  human  health  from  air 
pollution has not had its expected impact. There is a risk 
that  air  pollution  is  being  underestimated  in  some 
instances because it may not always be monitored in the 
right  places.  Member  States  are  now  required  to  report 

49 Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
50 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. Data reflects the reporting 
situation as of 26 November 2018. 
51 See The EEA/Eionet Air Quality Portal and the related Central Data 
Repository. 
52 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. PM10 
(PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5) micrometres or 
less. PM is emitted from many anthropogenic sources, including 
combustion. 
53 Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution. 
54 EEA, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 Report, p.64. Please see details in 
this report as regards the underpinning methodology. 
55 NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities 
and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising 
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 
56EPA, EPA Citizen Science Initiatives. 
57 European Court of Auditors, Special report no 23/2018, Air pollution: 
Our health still insufficiently protected, p.41. 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

both  real-time  and  validated  air-quality  data  to  the 
Commission58. 

example by introducing or expanding the use of low-
emission agricultural techniques. 

See also Figure 14 on the number of air quality zones in 
exceedance for NO2, PM2.5, and PM10. 

Ireland  took  part  in  a  clean  air  dialogue  with  the 
European Commission on 1-2 March 2017 in Dublin. The 
main conclusions of the dialogue were that:  

2. 

1.  with  the  anticipated  agricultural  growth  in  Ireland, 
to  be  closely 

ammonia  emissions  will  need 
monitored;  
the  Irish  authorities  should  be  prepared  to  take 
short-term  and  medium-term  measures  to  reduce 
NOx  emissions  from  the  current  and  future  road 
vehicle fleet; 

3.  expanding  the  ban  on  smoky  coal  nationwide  will 
reduce  health  costs  from  residential  solid  fuel 
combustion  in  Ireland  (but  it  is  important  at  the 
same  time  to  work  towards  replacing  coal  with 
cleaner and more efficient low-carbon alternatives);  
the Commission welcomes Ireland’s national plan to 
improve  and  expand 
the  current  monitoring 
network;  

4. 

5.  societal  change  will  be  more  effectively  achieved 
when policies are closely coordinated to help create 
co-benefits. 

A TAIEX-EIR P2P workshop was held on 2–3 July 2018 in 
Bratislava.  The  workshop  was  attended  by  experts  from 
Slovakia,  Hungary,  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Germany,  Belgium,  Poland,  Ireland,  United 
Kingdom,  Denmark  and  Bulgaria.  At  the  workshop, 
experts  exchanged  knowledge  and  experience  on 
effective measures and best practice to reduce emissions 
from domestic heating. 

2019 priority actions 

 

Take  action,  in  the  context  of  the  forthcoming 
National  Air  Pollution  Control  Programme  (NAPCP), 
to  reduce  emissions 
from  the  main  emission 
sources.. 

  Accelerate  the  reduction  of  nitrogen  oxide  (NOx) 
emissions.  This  will  require,  for  example,  a  further 
reduction in transport emissions,particularly in urban 
areas(and  may  require  proportionate  and  targeted 
urban  vehicle  access  restrictions)  and/or  fiscal 
incentives. 

  Reduce  ammonia  (NH3)  emissions  to  comply  with 
currently  applicable  national  emission  ceilings,  for 

58 Article 5 of Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU of 12 
December 2011 laying down rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 
2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards 
the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on ambient air 
quality (OJ L 335, 17.12.2011, p. 86) requires Member States to provide 
Up-To-Date data. 

  Reduce  emissions  of  volatile  organic  compounds 

(VOC) emissions. 

Industrial emissions 

The  main  objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive59 (IED). 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  activities  regulated  by 
the  IED  is  based  on  the  ‘industrial  emissions  policy 
country profiles’ project60. 

Figure  15:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector, Ireland (2015)61 

in 

industrial 

Ireland  with 

Ireland,  around  445 

In 
installations  are 
required  to  have  a  permit  based  on  the  IED.  The 
industrial  sectors 
IED 
installations in 2015 were intensive rearing of poultry or 
pigs  (46 %  of  IED  installations),  followed  by  food  and 
drink  production  (17 %  of  IED  installations),  chemicals 
(14 %  of  IED  installations,  most  of  which  were  for 
pharmaceutical  products)  and  waste  management  (11 % 

the  most 

59 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing of pig and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
60 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Ireland. 
61 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Ireland. 

16 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

of  IED  installations).  The  breakdown  of  different  sectors 
is shown in Figure 15. 

good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and  a  better 
application of the IED rules. 

The industrial  sectors contributing the largest burden to 
the environment for emissions to air were:  

 

energy-power  for  most  pollutants,  such  as  sulfur 
oxides  (SOx),  nitrogen  oxides  (NOx)  and  heavy 
metals,  such  as  cadmium,  arsenic,  chromium, 
mercury, nickel, and zinc; 

  waste  management  for  selected  heavy  metals  such 

as arsenic and chromium;  

 

‘other activities’ (mostly intensive rearing of poultry 
or  pigs) 
volatile  organic 
compounds.  

for  non-methane 

The breakdown is shown in Figure 16. 

Figure 16: Emissions to air from IED sectors and rest of 
national total air emissions, Ireland (2015) 

The chemicals industry was identified in the Irish country 
profile as causing significant environmental burdens from 
emissions  to  water  and  generation  of  hazardous  waste. 
The country profile said that the waste-management and 
metal-production sectors made a significant contribution 
to the generation of non-hazardous waste. 

The enforcement approach under the IED creates strong 
rights for citizens to have access to relevant information 
and  to  participate  in  the  permitting  process  for  IED 
installations. This empowers NGOs and the general public 
to  ensure  that  permits  are  appropriately  granted  and 
their conditions respected. 

Best available techniques (BAT) reference documents and 
BAT conclusions are developed through the exchange of 
industrial 
information  between  Member 
associations,  NGOs  and  the  Commission.  This  ensures 

States, 

17 

Thanks  to  the  national  competent  authorities’  efforts  to 
apply the legally binding BAT conclusions and associated 
BAT  emission  levels  in  environmental  permits,  pollution 
has decreased considerably and continuously in the EU. 

For  example,  by  applying  the  recently  adopted  BAT 
emission levels for large combustion plants, emissions of 
sulfur  dioxide  will  be  cut  on  average  by  between  25 % 
and  81 %,  nitrogen  oxide  between  8 %  and  56 %,  dust 
between 31 % and 78 %, and mercury between 19 % and 
71 % at EU level. The extent of the reduction depends on 
the situation in individual plants. 

The  challenge  identified  in  Ireland  was  related  to  air 
pollution  from  the  energy  —  power  sector  (use  of  peat 
for  power  generation)  and  related  pressures  to  use 
alternative energy sources. 

2019 priority actions 

  Review permits to ensure that they comply with the 

 

newly adopted BAT conclusions. 
Strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance with the BAT conclusions. 

  Address  air  pollution  from  the  power  sector  (use  of 

peat for power generation). 

Noise 
The  Environmental  Noise  Directive62  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoiding,  preventing  and  reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related  issues 
in the EU63. 
Based  on  a  limited  set  of  data64,  environmental  noise 
causes  at  least  100  premature  deaths  and  300  hospital 
admissions  per  year  in  Ireland.  Noise  also  disturbs  the 
sleep  of  roughly  160 000  people 
Ireland.  Noise 
is  complete. 
mapping  for  the  reference  year  2011 
Ireland’s  noise  action  plans  for  the  reference  year  2013 
are complete. The round 3 noise maps for the reference 
year  2016,  have  also  been  completed  and  the  action 
plans for the reference year 2018 are being submitted for 
review. 

in 

These  instruments,  adopted  after  a  public  consultation 
had  been  carried  out,  should  include  the  measures  to 
keep noise low or reduce it.  

62 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
63 WHO/JRC, Burden of disease from environmental noise, Fritschi, L., 
Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), World Health 
Organization, Regional Office for Europe, 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark. 
64 European Environment Agency, Noise Fact Sheets 2017. 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Water quality and management 

Drinking Water Directive 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

On  drinking  water,  no  new  EU  data  are  available  since 
the  last  EIR69.  However,  the  Commission  is  aware  of 
sporadic  non-compliance  with  certain  parameters  (e.g. 
in  some  water  supply  zones.  The 
trialomethanes) 
Commission is currently following-up on those issues. 
Figure 17: Bathing water quality 2014–2017 70 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation65  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water  bodies  in  the  EU  and  addresses  specific  pollution 
sources  (for  example,  from  agriculture,  urban  areas  and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
into  the 
impacts  of  climate  change  are 
corresponding  planning 
risk 
management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

instruments  e.g. flood 

integrated 

Water Framework Directive 

Ireland has adopted and reported the second generation 
of  River  Basin  Management  Plans  under  the  Water 
Framework  Directive  albeit  with  a 
long  delay.  The 
European  Commission  has  therefore  not  yet  conducted 
an assessment and not been able to assess the status and 
development since the first EIR report. 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure 17 shows that in 2017, out of the 142 Irish bathing 
waters, 71.8 % were of excellent  quality, 12.7 % were of 
good  quality  and  8.5 %  were  of  sufficient  quality  (the 
for  2016  were  72.9 %,  12.9 %  and  7.1 % 
figures 
respectively). In 2017, 7 bathing waters in Ireland were of 
poor  quality66.  Detailed  information  on  Irish  bathing 
waters  is  available  from  a  national  portal67  and  via  an 
interactive  map  viewer  created  by  the  European 
Environment Agency68. 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

Ireland  has  encountered  difficulties  in  implementing  the 
Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment  Directive.  This  is  partly 
due  to  ageing  or  outdated  infrastructure  that  has  not 
been  renewed  because  of  limited  investments  in  the 
water sector. The Commission launched an infringement 
procedure against Ireland for this in 2013, and the case is 
now awaiting judgment in front of the Court of Justice of 
the European Union. Overall, all waste water is collected 
in  Ireland,  but  the  country  reports  that  5 %  of  waste 
water is dealt with through individual systems. However, 
only 54 % of the generated load target complies with the 
requirements  of  the  Directive  for  treatment.  This  low 
compliance  rate  with  article  4  (or  secondary  treatment 
non-compliant 
requirements) 
agglomerations, including an agglomeration of more than 
2 000 000 p.e. Finally, almost half of the agglomerations 
required  to  have  more  stringent  treatment  systems  in 
place are non-compliant. During 2016, Ireland carried out 
a  review  of  sensitive  areas  and  taking  into  account  the 
local  situation,  updated  the  parameters  that  apply  for 
discharges  to  sensitive  areas.  The  estimated  investment 
needed  to  ensure  appropriate  collection  and  treatment 
of  the  remaining  agglomerations  is  EUR 707 million71. 
According  to  this  last  report,  Ireland  is  expected  to 

due 

25 

to 

is 

65 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the Nitrates 
Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 
66 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2016 , 2017, p. 17. 
67 Beaches. 
68 EEA, State of bathing waters. 

69 Compliance with the Drinking Water Directive microbiological and 
chemical parameters as last reported was very high. 
70 European Environment Agency, European bathing water quality in 
2017, 2018, p. 21. 
71 European Commission, Ninth Report on the Implementation Status 
and the Programmes for Implementation of the Urban Waste Water 
Treatment Directive (COM(2017)749) and Commission Staff Working 
Document accompanying the report (SWD(2017)445). 

18 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

complete  the  final  projects  necessary  for  it  to  be  in 
compliance  by  2020,  many  years  after  the  final  2005 
deadline  set  in  the  Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment 
Directive. 

In  2016,  2017  and  2018,  the  European  Semester  has 
made  country-specific  recommendations  on  Ireland’s 
need to improve water infrastructure. 

Floods Directive 

New  OPW  (Office  of  Public  Works)  flood  map  work  can 
be found on the website 72/ 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the 
reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated  with 
significant floods. 

Ireland  has  adopted  and  reported  its  Preliminary  Flood 
Risk  Assessments  and  its  Flood  Hazard  and  Risk  Maps 
under  the  FD.  Ireland  has  also  adopted  and  reported  to 
the European Commission in May 2018 its first Flood Risk 
Management  Plans.  The  Commission  has  not  yet 
conducted an assessment of the Plans. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Ensure timely adoption and reporting of  River Basin 
Management  Plans  as  well  as  Flood  Risk 
Management Plans. 
Ensure  compliance  with  the  Urban  Waste  Water 
Treatment  Directive  by  ending  direct  discharges  of 
waste  water.  Ensure  that  waste  water  is  collected 
and  appropriately  treated  throughout  the  country. 
Complete 
for 
agglomerations that are in breach of the Directive as 
soon as possible. 

water-infrastructure 

projects 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse  effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

legislation73  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
for  businesses 
operating within the internal market. 

(ECHA) 
In  2016,  the  European  Chemicals  Agency 
published  a  report  on  REACH  and  the  CLP  Regulation74 
that  showed  that  enforcement  activities  in  the  Member 
States are still evolving. Member States cooperate closely 
Information  on 
within  the  Forum  for  Exchange  of 
Enforcement. This dialogue has shown that there is scope 
to increase the effectiveness of enforcement activities, in 
particular  for  registration  obligations  and  safety  data 
sheets where the level of non-compliance is still relatively 
high. 

While progress has been made, there is room to further 
improve and harmonise enforcement activities across the 
EU,  including  controls  on  imported  goods.  Enforcement 
remains  weak  in  some  Member  States,  particularly  for 
controls  on  imports  and  supply  chain  obligations.  The 
enforcement  architecture 
in  most  EU 
countries, and enforcement projects reveal differences in 
compliance between Member States. 

is  complex 

A  2015  Commission  study  already  emphasised  the 
importance  of  harmonised  market  surveillance  and 
enforcement  when  implementing  REACH  at  Member 
State  level,  deeming  it  to  be  a  critical  success  factor  in 
the operation of a harmonised single market75. 

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of  REACH76.  The  evaluation  concludes  that  REACH 
delivers  on  its  objectives,  but  that  progress  made  is 
slower  than  anticipated.  In  addition,  the  registration 
dossiers often are incomplete. The evaluation underlines 
the need to enhance enforcement by all actors, including 
registrants,  downstream  users  and 
in  particular  for 
importers,  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field,  meet  the 
objectives  of  REACH  and  ensure  consistency  with  the 
actions envisaged to improve environmental compliance 
and  governance.  Consistent  reporting  of  Member  State 
enforcement activities  was considered  important  in that 
respect. 

The  Health  &  Safety  Authority  (HSA) 
is  the  main 
Competent  Authority for REACH enforcement  in Ireland. 
It  shares  responsibility  for  enforcement  with  two  other 
bodies:  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency  (EPA)  and 
the  Pesticide  Registration  and  Control  Division  of  the 
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine77. 

The  HSA 
is  also  the  Competent  Authority  for  CLP 
enforcement. It shares this responsibility with two other 
bodies:  the  Pesticide  Registration  and  Control  Division 
and 
Information  Centre  of 
Beaumont Hospital Board. 

the  National  Poisons 

72Floodinfo. 
73 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 

74 European Chemicals Agency, Report on the Operation of REACH and 
CLP 2016. 
75 European Commission, Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs, Final Report, 2015. 
76 COM(2018) 116. 
77 ECHA, National Inspectorates – Ireland. 

19 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

in  Ireland  through 

The  HSA  enforces  a  wide  range  of  legislation  covering 
workplace  safety  and  health 
its 
inspectorate  staff.  The  inspectorate  staff  is  organised 
according  to  various  specialities, 
including  the  safe 
management and use of chemicals. Enforcement covers a 
range  of  activities  to  ensure  compliance,  such  as 
providing  advice  and  information,  issuing  improvement 
and  prohibition  notices,  and  taking  prosecutions  in  the 
courts.  Inspectors  of  the  Health  and  Safety  Authority 
carry  out 
inspections  of 
workplaces.  Reactive  inspections  may  arise  following  an 
accident,  incident  or  complaint.  Pro-active  inspections 
may be routine or targeted. 

reactive  and  pro-active 

for 

is 
The  Irish  Environmental  Protection  Agency  (EPA) 
responsible 
the  prevention  of  environmental 
pollution  under  the  REACH  Regulation  within  the  State. 
The  HSA  and  the  EPA  participated  jointly  in  the  REF-4 
project.  The  project  involved  a  total  of  5 625  product 
checks 
for  compliance  with  22  REACH  restricted 
substances.  A  total  of  2778  countries  contributed  to  the 
project.  Results  obtained  showed  an  approximately  18% 
non-compliance  rate.  The  report  concludes  the  main 
response  to  address  the  relatively  high  non-compliance 
rate  is  the  promotion  of  greater  vigilance  among  the 
relevant  economic  operators  regarding  compliance 
within  their  supply  chains.  The  report  also  recommends 
the continued testing, by market surveillance authorities, 
of products for compliance with the restricted substances 
prohibitions. 

internal  market 

Additional to the REACH Regulation, the remit of the EPA 
includes  other 
legislation  restricting 
specified hazardous substances in products and mixtures 
such  as  the  Restriction  on  the  use  of  certain  Hazardous 
Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) 
Directive79,  Batteries  Directive80,  Paints  Directive81, 
Ozone  Depleting 
F-Gas 
Regulation83 
Pollutants 
and 
Regulation84.  The  EPA  develops  and  carries  out  market 
surveillance  programmes  and  other  related  activities 
regarding 
surveillance 
programmes target items for compliance monitoring on a 
risk-based  approach,  focussing  on  products  which  are 
consider to pose the most serious risk of non-compliance 
e.g. as evidenced from past programmes, complaints.  

Substances  Regulation82, 
Persistent  Organic 

legislation.  Market 

this 

Chemicals  play  a  pivotal  role  in  the  Irish  economy.  They 
account  for  over  60 %  of  goods  exported  from  the 
country.  In  Ireland  the  chemicals  industry  is  dominated 

78 A total of 29 countries participated however only 27 provided results 
in a manner allowing their inclusion in the project. 
79 Directive 2011/65/EU. 
80 Directive 2006/66/EC. 
81 Directive 2004/42/CE. 
82 Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000. 
83 Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. 
84 Regulation (EC) No 842/2004. 

by  pharmaceutical  companies  engaged  in  either  active 
pharmaceutical  ingredient  (API)  manufacturing  and/or 
dosage-form  manufacturing.  There  is  a  cluster  of  API 
plants  around  Cork  —  mostly  engaged  in  high-  end 
chemical  synthesis.  Dublin  has  a  more  diverse  industry 
base 
synthesis,  drug  product 
formulation  and  biotechnology-based  manufacturing 
(biotechnology-based 
includes 
formulation).  Recent 
fermentation,  purification  and 
investments will make Dublin a leading global cluster for 
biologics (biopharmaceuticals) manufacturing. 

including  chemical 

manufacturing 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU policy on the urban environment encourages cities to 
put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning  and 
design.  These  should  include  innovative  approaches  to 
sustainable 
urban  public 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

transport  and  mobility, 

Europe  can  be  seen  as  a  union  of  cities  and  towns.  The 
population living in urban areas in Europe is projected to 
rise  to  just  over  80%  by  205085.  Urban  areas  pose 
particular  challenges  for  the  environment  and  human 
health,  but  they  also  provide  opportunities  for  using 
resources  more  efficiently.  The  EU  encourages 
municipalities to become greener through initiatives such 
as  the  Green  Capital  Award86,  the  Green  Leaf  Award87 
and the Green City Tool88. 

Financing greener cities 

to 

funded  by 

Ireland  has  two  operational  programmes  for  regional 
the  European  Regional 
development 
Development  Fund  (ERDF).  Both  of  these  programmes 
include  a  priority 
improve  sustainable  urban 
development.  Ireland  has  assigned  EUR 40  million  from 
the ERDF (or nearly 10 % of its allocation from the ERDF) 
to  sustainable  urban  development.  Ireland  has  also 
assigned an additional EUR 84.5 million to develop a low-
carbon  economy  and  promote  low-carbon  strategies  for 
urban areas. 

Ireland  does  not  participate  in  the  European  Urban 
Development  Network89.  This  network  includes  more 
than  500  cities  across 
for 
implementing  integrated  actions  based  on  sustainable 
urban  development  strategies  financed  by  the  ERDF  in 
2014-2020. 

responsible 

the  EU 

85 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 
86 European Commission, European Green Capital. 
87 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award. 
88 European Commission, Green City Tool. 
89 European Commission, The Urban Development Network. 

20 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Irish municipalities are generally involved in EU initiatives 
on environmental protection and climate change. 

In  2017,  Galway  won  the  European  Green  Leaf  Award. 
The  city  was  rewarded  for:  (i)  its  achievements  in 
improving the major transport corridor to promote buses 
and  bicycles,  (ii)  drawing  up  a  local  biodiversity  action 
plan, and (iii) the city’s general biodiversity strategy. The 
judges also cited Galway’s awareness raising campaign to 
prevent food waste as an example of good practice90. 

Ireland  hosted  a  TAIEX-EIR  P2  workshop  on  21-22 Feb 
2018  in  Galway.  Cities  in  the  Green  Leaf  network  from 
Spain,  Ireland,  Belgium,  Portugal  and  Sweden  met  to 
collaborate  and 
share  best  practice  on  waste 
management and the green economy in urban areas. 

Nine  Irish  municipalities  are  involved  in  URBACT,  an 
initiative to support sustainable urban development. The 
initiative is divided into 11 thematic networks91. 

One  of  the  Horizon  2020  network  projects  has  also 
promoted  the  sustainability  of  Irish  cities.  The  CIVITAS 
project  is  a  network  of  80  cities,  including  four  Irish 
municipalities.  Its  goal  is  to  promote  ambitious,  clean 
urban transport strategies92. 

Irish cities are also actively involved in initiatives such as 
Eurocities and the EU Covenant of Mayors. 16 Irish cities 
were  signed  up  to  the  EU  Covenant  of  Mayors  and  9 
signatories have submitted their sustainable energy (and 
climate) action plan93. 

initiatives  and  networks  should  be 
These  urban 
welcomed and encouraged, as they contribute to a better 
urban  environment.  In  2016,  7 %  of  the  Irish  urban 
population  considered  that  their  residential  area  was 
affected  by  pollution,  grime  or  other  environmental 

90 European Commission, European Green Leaf, Good Practice Report, 
2017, pp.22,24,37. 
91 URBACT, Associated Networks by country. 
92 European Commission, Horizon 2020 Civitas Project. 
93 Convenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. 

problems,  down  from  6.8 %  in  2015  and  6.6 %  in  2014. 
These figures are significantly lower than the average EU-
28  levels  (18.9 %  in  2016,  19.2 %  in  2015  and  19 %  in 
2014)94. 

Nature and cities 

13 %  of  the  Natura  2000  network  in  Ireland  is  within 
functional  urban  areas95,  below  the  EU  average  of  15 % 
(see Figure 18). 

Figure  18:  Proportion  of  Natura  2000  network 
Functional Urban Areas 96 

in 

infrastructure  (GI) 

Green 
Ireland  are 
implemented  through  local  government  and  through 
local government’s development of county development 
plans and city development plans. 

initiatives 

in 

As part of its development plan, Dublin city has set up a 
green  infrastructure  network,  which  is  connected  to  the 
networks of neighbouring local authorities. 

Other  examples  of  local  plans  integrating  GI  include  the 
Loughmacask  local  area  plan,  drawn  up  by  Kilkenny 
County and Borough Councils, and the county Wicklow GI 
development plan strategy97. 

Urban sprawl 

Ireland  had  an  average  Weighted  Urban  Proliferation  of 
1.89UPU/m2  in  2009,  an  increase  of  6.2 %  from  2006. 
This  compares  to  a  European  average  (EU-28+4)  of 
1.64UPU/m2 in 20099899. 

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

There were 2.68 million road vehicles In Ireland in 2017. 
This represents an increase of 50 921 vehicles (1.94 %) on 

94 European Commission, Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other 
environmental problems by degree of urbanisation. 
95 European Commission, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 
96 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 
97 Biodiversity Information System for Europe: Ireland. 
98 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as well 
as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
99 EEA, Urban Sprawl in Europe, Annex I, 2014, pp.4-5. 

21 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

the previous year100. Private cars accounted for 77.5 % of 
the total number of licensed vehicles in 2016101. 

The  average  number  of  hours  per  year  spent  in  traffic 
jams  rose  from  31.49  in  2015  to  33.34  in  2016.  Ireland 
has  the  sixth-highest  number  of  hours  spent  in  road 
congestion in the EU102. 

Up until now, Ireland’s urban transport policy has mostly 
encouraged commuters to shift from their private cars to 
other  more  sustainable  modes  of  transport,  including 
public transport. In 2017, 251 million passenger journeys 
were provided by the bus operators Dublin  Bus and Bus 
Éireann, the rail company Iarnród Éireann, and the Dublin 
tramway  Luas.  This  was  an  increase  of  over  16  million 
passenger journeys, or 7 % compared to 2016. 

25 %  of  people  who  work  in  Dublin  commute  from 
outside the city and its suburbs. The number of workers 
commuting to Cork city and suburbs increased by 13.5 % 
between  2011  and  2016.  The  number  of  people 
commuting  into  Limerick  city  and  suburbs  saw  a  rise  of 
13.1 %  over  the  same  period.  Over  40 %  of  workers  in 
Cork commuted from outside the urban area. In the city 
and  suburbs  of  Limerick  and  Galway  city,  50 %  of  the 
workforce commutes from outside the urban area. 

investment  gaps  are 

Ireland  invests  less  in  transport  infrastructure  as  a 
proportion  of  its  GDP  than  other  EU  countries,  and  less 
than  the  estimated  amount  needed  to  maintain  the 
current  system.  The 
in  new 
infrastructure  (in  particular  for  public  transport),  and  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  current  infrastructure,  which  is 
primarily 
infrastructure  and  not  adequately 
resourced.  Ireland  also  has  a  poorly  developed  railway 
infrastructure  and  the  lowest  rail  electrification  rate  in 
the EU (2.7 % in 2015)103. 

road 

100 Department of Transport, Tourism and Sports, Bulletin of Vehicle 
and Driver Statistics. 
101 Central Statistics Office, Transport Omnibus 2016. 
102 European Commission, Hours spent in road congestion annually. 
103 European Commission, Transport in the European Union, Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, p. 47. 

22 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental funding 

and investments 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

incentives, 

Financial 
taxation  and  other  economic 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

Ireland’s  revenue  from  environmental  taxes  remains 
among  the  lowest  in  the  EU.  Environmental  taxes  in 
Ireland accounted  for 1.75 % of  GDP in 2017  (the EU-28 
average  was  2.4 %)  as  shown  in  Figure  19.  Energy  taxes 
accounted for 1.08 % of GDP against an EU-28 average of 
1.84 %104.  However,  due  to  the  significant  impact  of 
multinational companies on Ireland's headline  economic 
figures,  the  ratios  to  GDP  tend  to  underestimate  the 
actual  contribution  of  environmental  taxes.  In  the  same 
year,  environmental  tax  revenues  were  7.46 %  of  total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social-security  contributions, 
higher than the EU-28 average of 5.97 %. 

Labour tax accounted for 42.1 % of total tax revenues in 
2016.  This  was  below  the  EU  average.  The  implicit  tax 
burden  on  labour  was  32.7 %105.  Consumption  taxes  in 
Ireland  remained  relatively  low  in  2016  (at  33.6 %  they 
placed  Ireland  15th  in  the  EU-28).  This  suggests  there  is 
significant potential to shift taxes to consumption and in 
particular  to  environmental  taxes.  The  Commission  has 
repeatedly stressed in the European Semester that there 
is potential for Ireland to improve how its tax system can 
support environmental objectives106. 

In spite of the low environmental taxes, there are several 
examples  in  Ireland  of  sound  fiscal  measures  on  the 
environment.  A  good  example  is  the  plastic  bag  levy. 
Ireland  was  one  of  the  first  countries  in  the  EU  to 
introduce  such  a  levy  (2002),  and  the  revenue  it  raised 
has  been  used  for  administration  and  environmental 

104 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2019. 
105 European Commission, Taxation Trends Report, 2017. 
106 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, p. 
22. 

significant  measure 

projects107.  Another 
the 
conservation  and  sustainable  management  of  salmon 
through  fishing  licences.  This  has  reduced  the  critical 
depletion of salmon stocks in the country108. 

is 

Figure  19:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  %  of  GDP  
(2017)109 

Meanwhile,  fossil  fuel  subsidies  showed  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  past  decade.  This  was  mainly  due  to  the 
public  programmes  supporting  peat  production  and 
consumption (the ‘public service obligation’ for peat and 

107 Institute for European Environmental Policy, Case Studies on 
Environmental Fiscal Reform, Plastic bag levy in Ireland. 
108 Institute for European Environmental Policy, Case Studies on 
Environmental Fiscal Reform, Conservation of salmon through fishing 
licenses. 
109 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2019. 

23 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

the  solid-fuel  carbon-tax  exemption  for  certain  uses, 
among  others).  The  budgetary  transfers  for  peat  fuel 
allowances to low-income households went  over EUR 25 
million in 2016. Other subsidies and exceptions  exist  for 
petroleum, natural gas and coal110. These other subsidies 
and exceptions amounted to EUR 300 million in 2016. 

The use of alternative fuels in new passenger cars sold in 
Ireland has been increasing in recent years. In 2016, the 
number of new passenger cars using alternative fuels was 
three times greater than in 2011111. The tax treatment of 
company  cars  is  not  a  cause  for  concern  in  Ireland112. 
Fiscal  measures  are  being  extended  in  2019  to  support 
the  purchase  of  electric,  hybrid  and  plug-in  hybrid  cars 
and  vans.  The  different  tax  treatment  of  diesel  and 
gasoline for road use is beginning to be addressed with a 
1  %  vehicle  registration  tax  surcharge  for  diesel  engine 
passenger  vehicles  registering  in  Ireland113.  VAT  is  also 
deductible for commercial cars registered after 2009 with 
CO2 emissions lower than 156 g/km114. Other changes to 
reduce the favourable taxation of company cars would be 
welcomed. 

Green public procurement 

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement  criteria  to  at  least  50 %  of  public  tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The purchasing power of public procurement amounts to 
around  EUR 1.8  trillion  in  the  EU  (approximately  14%  of 
GDP).  A  substantial  proportion  of  this  money  goes  to 
sectors  with  a  high  environmental 
impact  such  as 
construction  or  transport.  Therefore,  green  public 
procurement  (GPP)  can  help  to  significantly  lower  the 
negative  impact  of  public  spending  on  the  environment 
and  can  help  support  sustainable  innovative  businesses. 
The Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria115. 

 ‘Green  Tenders’,  the  national  action  plan  for  green 
public  procurement,  was  published  by 
Ireland’s 
Department  of  the  Environment  in  January  2012.  The 
action plan takes the lead role in ‘greening’ procurement 

110 OECD, Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels, 2018. 
111 European Commission, Transport in the European Union Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, pp.27-28. 
112 European Commission, Taxation of commercial cars in Belgium, 
2017, p.3. 
113 Budget 2019 
114 ACEA, CO2 based motor vehicle taxes in Europe. 
115 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better 
environment’ (COM (2008) 400) the Commission recommended the 
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic 
concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and 
ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a 
life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base. 

across the Irish public sector. The government’s aim is for 
GPP to be used for 50 % of procurement by value or 50 % 
by volume. 

Ireland’s  EPA  has  drawn  up  guidance  documents  for 
green public procurement in eight sectors116. These are: 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

road transport vehicles and services 
energy 
construction 
food and catering services 
cleaning products and services  
textiles and uniforms  
office IT equipment  
paper. 

A  European  Parliament  study  shows  that  Ireland  has 
partially implemented the GPP national action plan117. At 
Ireland  does  not  have  a  mandatory  GPP 
present, 
requirement.  However,  the  government  has 
issued 
specific  recommendations  for  criteria  to  be  followed 
when  purchasing  goods  and  services  in  the  following 
food  and 
sectors:  construction,  transport,  energy, 
catering,  textiles,  cleaning  products,  paper  and 
IT 
equipment. 

Work  being  undertaken  as  part  of  Interreg  Europe 
GPP4Growth118 could be relevant in this context. 

Environmental funding and investments 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate  in  their  funding  strategies  and  programmes  for 
rural 
economic, 
development and maritime policy. 

social  and 

territorial 

cohesion, 

Achieving  sustainability  involves  mobilising  public  and 
private  financing  sources119.  Use  of  the  European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIFs)120  is  essential  if 
countries  are  to  achieve  their  environmental  goals  and 
integrate 
into  other  policy  areas.  Other 
instruments such as Horizon 2020, the LIFE programme121 
and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)122 

these 

116 EPA, Green Procurement: Guidance for the Public Sector, 2014. 
117 European Parliament, Green Public Procurement and the Action Plan 
for the Circular Economy, 2017, pp. 79-80. 
118Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, 
GPP4 Growth. 
119 See, for example, Action plan on financing sustainable growth 
(COM(2018) 97).  
120 i.e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion 
Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and the ESF are referred to as 
the ‘cohesion policy funds’. 
121 European Commission, LIFE programme. 
122 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 

24 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

may also support the implementation and spread of good 
practices. 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  2014-
2020 

Through  five  national  and  regional  programmes,  Ireland 
has  been  allocated  EUR 3.36  billion  from  the  ESIF  for 
2014-2020.  With  a  national  contribution  of  EUR 2.77 
billion, Ireland has a total budget of EUR 6.13 billion to be 
invested 
including  research  and 
innovation,  SME  support,  the  low-carbon  economy,  and 
climate change adaptation123. 

in  various  areas, 

Cohesion policy 

Ireland  has  been  allocated  around 
For  2014-2020, 
EUR 1.19  billion 
funding, 
in  total  cohesion  policy 
including  EUR 168.8  million  for  European  territorial 
cooperation and EUR 492 million from the ESF125. Ireland 
is  also  receiving  funding  from  two  ERDF  operational 
programmes (OPs).  

These  EU  funds  are  a  key  instrument  in  protecting  the 
environment  in  Ireland126.  Irish  investment  priorities  for 
2014-2020  are  ‘promoting  an  environmentally  friendly 
and resource efficient economy’ and ‘supporting the shift 
towards  an  energy  efficient,  low  carbon  economy’127. 
Although  no  direct 
in  environmental 
infrastructure are planned in any of this EU funding, both 
ERDF  OPs  include  the  cross-cutting  priority  ‘sustainable 
urban  development’.  This  cross-cutting  priority  aims  to 
improve  the  urban  environment,  regenerate  brownfield 
sites,  reduce  air  pollution,  promote  noise  reduction  and 
promote sustainable multi-modal urban mobility. 

investments 

the  protection  of 

low-carbon  economy, 

The ERDF environmental allocation for the shift  towards 
a 
the 
environment, and the promotion of resource efficiency is 
around  EUR 40  million  (EUR 26  million  in  the  southern 
and  eastern  regional  OP  and  EUR 14  million  in  the 
border, midlands and western OP). In addition, EUR 84.4 
million from the ERDF allocation is dedicated to promote 
low-carbon  measures  in  general  in  all  sectors  of  the 
economy. 

With  the  help  of  the  ERDF  for  2014-2020,  the  energy 
efficiency of more than 33 000 households was improved 

123 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
(County factsheet Ireland), 2017. 
124 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
Data By Country. 
125 European Commission, Cohesion Policy and Ireland, 2014. 
126 ‘The objectives of the ESI Funds shall be pursued in line with the 
principle of sustainable development and with the Union’s promotion 
of the aim of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the 
environment, as set out in Article 11 and Article 191(1) TFEU, taking 
into account the polluter pays principle’ Article 8, Reg. (EU) No 
1303/2013. 
127 European Commissison, Summary of the Partnershiip Agreement for 
Ireland, 2014. 

25 

by  the  end  of  2016,  and  more  than  1.6  million  people 
now  live  in  areas  with  integrated  urban  development 
strategies. 

Administrative  capacity 
in  Member  States  (including 
human resources, relevant knowledge and skills, systems 
and tools) is one of the key factors that ensure successful 
and efficient investment of EU funds. The importance of 
administrative  capacity  is  well  understood  in  Ireland.  Its 
partnership  agreement  for  the  programming  period 
2014-2020  explicitly  refers 
importance  of 
administrative  capacity  and  relevant  experience  for  the 
administration  of  European  Structural  and  Investment 

the 

to 

Figure  20:  ESIF  2014-2020  –  EU  allocation  by  theme, 
Ireland (EUR billion) 124 

lessons 

learned 

Funds.  Furthermore,  based  on 
in 
previous  programming  periods,  Ireland  aims  to  ensure 
that it has sufficient administrative capacity in place in all 
bodies  involved  in  implementing  the  ESIF  programmes. 
Ireland  also  aims  to  ensure  that  this  capacity  can  be 
further  reinforced  if  needed128.  Ireland  also  participates 
in TAIEX REGIO P2P events129. 

According to the Sustainable Governance Index (including 
economic,  social  and  environmental  policies),  Ireland  is 
ranked  rather  high  —  14th  among  41  countries 
in  the  EU)130  for  sustainable 
worldwide  (or  10th 
governance.  According  to  the  Worldwide  Governance 
Indicators,  Ireland  also  scores  quite  well,  except  for  the 
political stability indicator which fell from 92 % in 2006 to 
77 % in 2016)131. 

Rural development 

The rural development programme (RDP) for Ireland was 
last  modified  in  October  2017.  The  budget  for  this 

128 Ireland. Partnership Agreement 2014-2020. 
129 European Commission, TAIEX REGIO PEER 2 PEER. 
130 SGI Network. 
131 World bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

includes 
is 
programme 
EUR 887 million 
agri-environment  measures, 
EUR 27 million  for  organic  farming  and  EUR 700  million 
for areas with natural constraints. 

EUR 2.2 
for 

billion. 

This 

There  has  been  an  increased  focus  in  the  RDP  on 
promoting  organic  farming  to  help  increase  biodiversity, 
improve water management and prevent soil erosion 

Ireland’s  successful  nutrient-management  programme 
(to use fertiliser more efficiently on Irish farms) continues 
to be developed throughout the country. 

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 

from 

Ireland 
is  a  marine  nation  with  an  operational 
programme  under  the  European  Maritime  and  Fisheries 
Fund  of  about  EUR 239  million.  It  receives  around 
EUR 148  million  co-financing 
the  European 
Maritime  and  Fisheries  Fund  (EMFF)132.  The  EMFF  has 
financed  several  projects  beneficial  to  the  environment, 
such  as  support  for  conventional  aquaculture  producers 
to move to organic production, and new technologies to 
reduce  fishing’s  impact  on  the  environment.  EUR 64 
million  of  the  EUR 148  million  allocation  is  dedicated  to 
fostering environmentally sustainable, resource-efficient, 
innovative  aquaculture.  EUR 5.3  million  (3.5 %  of  the 
EMFF  allocation)  will  be  used  on  measures  to  improve 
knowledge  on  the  state  of  the  marine  environment  and 
the  level  of  protection  of  marine  areas.  This  will  be 
achieved through collection and harmonisation of marine 
data  and  the  development  of  marine  spatial  planning 
capacities. 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 

The  CEF  is  a  key  EU  funding  instrument  developed 
specifically  to  direct 
investment  towards  European 
transport,  energy  and  digital  infrastructure  to  address 
identified  missing  links  and  bottlenecks  and  promote 
sustainability. 

By  the  end  of  2017,  Ireland  had  signed  agreements  for 
EUR 96 million for projects under the CEF133. 

Horizon 2020 

Ireland  has  benefited  from  Horizon  2020  funding  since 
the programme started in 2014. As of January 2019, 444 
participants  have  been  granted  a  maximum  amount  of 
the  Societal 
for  projects 
EUR 159.6  million 
Challenges 
with 
work 
environmental issues134 135.  

programmes 

dealing 

from 

132 European Commission, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in 
Ireland, 2015. 
133 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for 
Ireland, 2018, p. 14. 
134 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is the maximum 

26 

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate and biodiversity expenditure is present across the 
entire  Horizon  2020.  In  Ireland,  projects  accepted  for 
funding  in  all  Horizon  2020  working  programmes  until 
December  2018  included  EUR  168  million  destined  to 
climate  action  (24.3 %  of  the  total  Horizon  2020 
contribution  to  the  country)  and  EUR  38  million  for 
biodiversity-related  actions  (5.5 %  of  the  Horizon  2020 
contribution to the country)136. 

Certain  Horizon  2020  projects  aim  to  create  positive 
environmental  impacts.  Two  such  projects  that  have 
been  implemented  in  Ireland  or  with  Irish  participation 
are  the  WATERPROTECT  project137  (which 
involves 
farmers  and  other  stakeholders  in  a  drive  to  reduce 
water  pollution  from  fertilisers  and  pesticides),  or  the 
SEACHANGE  project  (which  encourages  the  general 
public  to  take  direct  and  sustainable  action  to  protect 
healthy and biodiverse seas)138. 

LIFE programme 

Since  its  launch  in  1992,  the  LIFE  programme  has  co-
financed  a  total  of  58  projects  in  Ireland.  Of  these,  38 
have  focused  on  environmental  innovation  and  20  have 
focused  on  nature  conservation.  These  LIFE  projects 
represent  an  investment  of  EUR 130  million,  of  which 
EUR 58 million was contributed by the EU. 

For  the  period  2014-2017,  EUR 4  million  has  been 
allocated to Irish projects by the LIFE programme139. LIFE 
LESSWATT is one of these projects. It promotes the use of 
innovative  wireless 
energy 
consumption  and  greenhouse-gas  emissions  in  water 
resource recovery facilities. Ireland asked the EU to make 
this 
a  contribution  of  around  EUR 1  million 
programme140. 

reducing 

tools 

for 

to 

The  LIFE  programme’s  environment  and  resource 
efficiency sub-programme has co-financed 38 projects in 
Ireland so far, representing a total investment of EUR 74 
million, of which EUR 24 million was provided by the EU. 
The  projects  that  have  been  completed  mainly  focused 
on 
clean 
technologies, sensitive-area management (coastal areas), 
end-of-life  vehicle  waste,  and  urban  design.  There  are 
two  projects  currently  underway  in  Ireland.  The  first 

integrated  environmental  management, 

grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally corresponds to 
the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
135 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and 
raw materials. 
136 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). 
137 European Commission, WATERPROTECT Project. 
138 European Commission, SEA CHANGE Project. 
139 Commission services based on data provided by EASME. 
140 European Commission, LIFE LESSWATT. 

                                                                 
 
                                                                                                        
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

project  aims  to  better  reconcile  tourism  development 
with  the  conservation  of  biodiversity  in  the  Burren 
region.  The  project  will  last  for  63  months  and  is  being 
coordinated by Clare County Council. The second project 
aims  to  reduce  and  reuse  waste,  divert  it  from  landfill, 
create  green  jobs,  reduce  resource  consumption,  and 
innovative  ecological  education 
improve  access  to 

 

Figure 21: EIB loans to Ireland in 2018142 

to  restore  wetland  peat-forming 
mainly  aims 
conditions  on  Ireland’s  raised  bogs  by  continuing  to 
remove plantation forests.  

The LIFE Aran project is based on the Aran Islands off 
Ireland’s  west  coast.  It  aims  to  sustainably  manage 
the  priority  terrestrial  habitats  listed  in  Annex  1  of 
the  Habitats  Directive  that  are  on  the  Aran  Islands. 
The  project 
the 
Department  of  Arts,  Heritage  and  the  Gaeltacht 
over a 52-month period starting in September 2013.  

implemented  by 

is  being 

European Investment Bank 

In 2018 alone, the EIB group (the European Investment 
Bank  and  the  European  Investment  Fund)  invested 
EUR 970  million  in  the  Irish  economy141.  Of  this,  35 % 
went  to  environmental  projects,  18 %  was  invested  in 
infrastructure, 30 % in Irish SMEs and 17 % in innovation 
and  skills.  Over  the  past  5  years  (2011-2015)  the 
European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  has  invested  EUR 3.4 
billion  in  the  Irish  economy,  of  which  17 %  was  for 
waste, sewage and urban projects. 

One  of  the  EIB’s  projects  is  of  specific  environmental 
interest: the flood protection and prevention programme 
for  the period  2015-2020. Another EIB-funded project is 
the  Irish  continuous  cover  forestry  initiative143,  which  is 
backed  by  the  Natural  Capital  Financial  Facility.  The 
Natural Capital Financial Facility was launched by the EIB 
and  the  European  Commission  to  better  protect  natural 
capital  in  Europe.  The  Irish  continuous  cover  forestry 
initiative  is  receiving  EUR 12.5 million  in  EIB  funding.  It 
will demonstrate how the forestry sector can take better 
account  of  the  need  to  safeguard  biodiversity,  soils  and 
landscape.  It  will  also  show  how  the  forestry  sector  can 
resist the threats associated with climate change. 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

Operations approved in Ireland under the Juncker Plan’s 
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) represent 
a  total  financing  volume  of  EUR 1.3  billion  EUR.  This  is 
expected to trigger EUR 6.3 billion in investments144. 

As  part  of  the  Juncker  Plan,  the  EIB  is  providing  EUR 29 
million  in  financing  to  the  Dasos  Fund  to  help  sustain 
12 000  hectares  of  productive  forestland  in  Ireland.  This 
project  will  deliver  many  environmental  benefits 
including  climate  change  mitigation  and  adaptation; 
improved management  of  soil and water resources; and 
protection  of  biodiversity.  With  this  investment,  Ireland 
hopes to increase its forest area from its current 11 % to 

141 European Investment Bank: The European Investment Bank in 
Ireland. 
142 EIB, Ireland and the EIB, 2018. 
143 Irish Continuous Cover Forestry initiative 
144 European Commission, Investment Plan for Europe, Country 
Factsheet: Ireland, 2018. 

systems. This project will last for 36 months and is being 
coordinated  by 
the  Rediscovery  Centre,  a  social 
enterprise located in Dublin. 

This  LIFE  programme’s  nature  and  biodiversity  priority 
area  has  also  co-financed  20  projects  in  Ireland.  These 
projects involved a total investment of EUR 56 million, of 
which EUR 33 million was contributed by the EU. 

The  projects 
that  have  been  completed  mostly 
concentrated  on  the  conservation,  management  and 
restoration  of  habitats.  They  had  a  specific  emphasis  on 
active  blanket  bogs,  raised  bogs,  farmland  and  various 
types  of  woodland.  One  of  these  projects  aimed  to 
enhance  the  conservation  status  of  the  Lower  Shannon 
special  area  of  conservation  (SAC).  In  particular,  this 
project  focuses  on  improving  conditions  for  the  Atlantic 
salmon, sea lamprey and European otter. Another project 
made  a  significant  contribution  to  halting  the  loss  of 
biodiversity  in  Ireland  by  developing  effective  methods 
for  controlling  highly  invasive  plant  species.  This  was 
combined with a programme of stakeholder commitment 
to publicise the policy. 

There  are  six  nature  and  biodiversity  projects  currently 
under way in Ireland. Three are listed below.  

 

Integrated  Resource  Development  Duhallow  is  a 
local development agency in southwest Ireland. It is 
running  a  project  that  aims  to  improve  the  Upper 
Blackwater  SAC  by  promoting  the  freshwater  pearl 
mussel,  Atlantic  salmon,  European  otter  and 
kingfisher.  The  project  plans  to  achieve  this  by 
carrying out actions to restore the quality of the river 
bed and the river zone.  

  Another  project 

is  being  developed  by  Coillte 
Teoranta,  the  Irish  Forestry  Board.  This  project 

27 

                                                                 
  
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

a level that is closer to the EU average of 42 %. The EFSI 
financing of EUR 29 million is expected to trigger EUR 39 
million in total investment. 

National environmental financing 

(the 

annual 

average 

percentage 

Ireland 
spent  EUR 927  million  on  environmental 
protection in 2016, a 4 % increase from 2015145. 1.2 % of 
these  payments  were  allocated  to  waste  management 
of 
activities 
environmental spending allocated to waste management 
in  the  EU  is  49.7 %).  EUR 466.9  million  was  allocated  to 
wastewater  management  (50 %  of  the  total),  and 
EUR 69.9  million  was  allocated  to  pollution  abatement 
(7.5 %  of  the  total).  28 %  of  environmental  expenditure 
was  allocated  to  the  protection  of  biodiversity  and 
landscapes (EUR 258.5 million). Between 2012 and 2016, 
general 
environmental 
funding 
government 
protection was EUR 5 billion146. 

for 

The  Waste  Management  Act,  passed  in  2001,  provides 
for  the  creation  of  an  Environment  Fund147.  Revenues 
from the levies on plastic  shopping bags and the landfill 
of waste are paid into the fund. The fund may be used for 
a  range  of  purposes,  such  as  waste  (schemes  to 
prevent/reduce  waste,  waste 
recovery  activities), 
protection  of  the  environment  (partnership  projects 
involving  local  authorities  to  improve  the  quality  of  the 
environment)  or  education 
to  achieve 
environmental objectives). 
In 2016148, the levy on landfill generated EUR 48.4 million 
and the plastic bag levy generated EUR 8.7 million. In that 
year,  Ireland  spent  EUR 36  million  from  the  fund  on 
included 
environment-related  actions.  These  actions 
research 
for 
enforcement 
measures by the Irish EPA. 

initiatives  and  support 

(training 

145 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 
146 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 
147 Environmental Fund 
148 Depertment of Communication, Climate Action & Environment, 
Environment Fund Account 2016. 

28 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

5. Strengthening environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively149.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows citizens and NGOs to use national courts to protect 
the  environment150.  It  includes  the  right  to  bring  legal 
challenges (‘legal standing’)151. 

Environmental information 

data. 

Ireland  has  a  partially  centralised  approach 
for 
‘Ireland's 
environmental 
disseminating 
Environment’152  portal  of  the  Environmental  Protection 
Agency  (EPA)  contains  a  broad  variety  of  environmental 
information.  Other  beneficial  information  portals  are 
‘LiveGreen’153 and Waste Statistics154. For chemicals most 
of  the  information  and  monitoring  data  is  found  on  a 
separate  portal,  155  (also  accessible  via  the  main  portal). 
The national Open Data portal https://data.gov.ie/ is also 
a very useful information source. 

The  INSPIRE  Directive  aims  to  create  common  rules  for 
environmental  data  across  Europe.  Ireland’s  INSPIRE 
portal156  is  not  connected  to  the  main  environmental 
portal of Ireland’s EPA.  

Ireland  is  lagging  behind  in  its  implementation  of  the 
INSPIRE  Directive.  Its  performance  has  been  reviewed 

149 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive, 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive, 2007/2 together create 
a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
150 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen’s Guide. 
151 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
152 Environmental Protection Agency. 
153 www.livegreen.ie  
154 EPA, Waste Statistics.  
155 Health Service Executive. 
156 Government of Ireland, Geoportal. 

based on its 2016 implementation report157 and its most 
recent  monitoring  data  from  2017158.  Ireland  has  made 
good  progress  in  data  sharing  and  reuse.  Additional 
efforts  are  needed  to 
identification, 
documentation  of  data,  and  making  the  data  accessible 
through  services.  Ireland  also  needs  to  make  additional 
in  the 
efforts  to  prioritise  environmental  datasets 
implementation  of 
In 
particular,  it  needs  to  prioritise  datasets  identified  as 
high-value spatial datasets159. 

improve  data 

environmental 

legislation. 

Access to spatial data is shown in Figure 22. 

Figure  22:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Ireland (2017) 

Public participation 

into  a 

Ireland has 71 transposition measures recorded for public 
participation.  This  is  the  second  highest  number  in  the 
EU-28.  Ireland  has  chosen  to  write  public  participation 
requirements 
full  range  of  environmental 
regulations  and  procedures,  rather  than  setting  out 
general  requirements  for  public  authorities.  A  detailed 
explanation  of  how  the  requirements  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention  are 
the 
Department  of  Communications,  Climate  Action  and 
Environment on its website160. 
Ireland has also established guidelines for consultation161. 
An  independent  Planning  and  Appeal  Board  (‘An  Bord 
Pleanála’)  has  created  a  central  portal  which  allows 

is  provided  by 

implemented 

157 INSPIRE IE country sheet, 2017. 
158 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard 
159 European Commission, Priority list of datasets for e-Reporting. 
160Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment, 
Implementation Table in respect of Ireland’s Implementation Measures. 
161Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Consultation 
guidelines. 

29 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

members  of  the  public  to  submit  observations  on 
planning  applications  and  appeals  on  planning 
decisions162.  

 

The  Eurobarometer  figures  from  2017  show  that  Irish 
people agree very strongly (96 % of respondents) that an 
individual can play a role in protecting the environment. 
This  figure  has  remained  roughly  stable  over  several 
years. 

Access to justice  

information  on 

Ireland maintains a ‘citizen’s information’ website, which 
in 
includes 
environmental  matters.  However,  this  information  is 
incomplete  in  several  areas,  for  example  in  relation  to 
cost  protection,  i.e.  protection  of  claimants  from  having 
to pay prohibitive costs if they lose a case. 

justice 

access 

to 

Ireland  maintains  an  interest-based  approach  to  legal 
standing,  which  is  generally  liberal  in  environmental 
matters.  Extremely  high  litigation  costs  —  which  can 
leave  litigants  owing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  euros  — 
present a greater barrier to environmental litigation than 
legal  standing.  For  limited  litigation  categories,  Irish 
legislation  adopted  in  2011  provides  a  form  of  cost 
protection. In case C-470/16, North East Pylon, the Court 
of  Justice  ruled  that  the  requirement  that  costs  not  be 
prohibitively  expensive  applied 
to  environmental 
litigation in general, and not just these limited categories. 
However, Ireland has yet to create a system that ensures 
that  environmental 
to 
unreasonable costs. 

litigants  are  not  exposed 

2019 priority actions 

 

Identify  and  document  all  spatial  datasets  required 
for  the  implementation  of  environmental  law,  and 
make the data and documentation at least accessible 
'as  is'  to  other  public  authorities  and  the  public 
through  the  digital  services  foreseen  in  the  INSPIRE 
Directive 

  Better inform the public about their rights to access 

162An Bord Pleanála. 

justice,  notably  in  relation  to  air  pollution  and 
nature. 
Ensure that individuals and environmental NGOs can 
bring  environmental  challenges  without 
facing 
prohibitive  costs,  including  in  nature  and  air  quality 
cases. 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
that 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste163.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion164;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring165; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement166.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability167 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

information 

Online information is given to farmers on how to comply 
with their obligations on nitrates and nature. The quality 
of  this 
is  an  indicator  of  how  actively 
authorities  promote  compliance  in  areas  with  serious 
implementation  gaps.  The  obligations  that  Irish  farmers 
must  fulfil  for  fertiliser  use  and  manure  storage  are 
in  a  handbook  available  online168. 
explained  clearly 
Information  for  farmers  and  landowners  about  Natura 
2000 is also available online169, as is a FAQ document170. 

industrial 

Major 
installations  can  present  serious 
pollution  risks.  Public  authorities  are  required  to  have 
plans to inspect these installations and to make individual 
inspection  reports  available  to  the  public171.  The  EPA 
publishes this information. 172 

163The concept is explained in detail in the Communication on ‘EU 
actions to improve environmental compliance and governance’ 
COM(2018)10 and the related Commission Staff Working Document, 
SWD(2018)10. 
164This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
165This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
166This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
167Directive 2004/35/CE, creates the framework. 
168Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Nitrates 
Explanatory Handbook. 
169 National Parks & Wildlife Service, Farmers and Landowners. 
170 National Parks & Wildlife Service, Natura 2000. 
171 Article 23, Directive, 2010/75/EU. 
172 Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Inspection Plan. 

30 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Citizen science and complaint handling 

Engaging  the  general  public  through  citizen  science  can 
promote knowledge about the environment and help the 
authorities in their work. The EPA has developed a smart 
phone  app  which  can  be  used  to  report  environmental 
concerns  to  the  correct  authority173.  It  also  maintains  a 
citizen  science  web  page174  and  has  announced  that 
citizen science is a key strategic priority (citizen science is 
already  used  to  collect  data  on  biodiversity,  air  quality 
and radon exposure). 

The availability of clear online information about how to 
make  a  complaint  is  an  indicator  of  how  responsive 
authorities  are  to  complaints  from  the  public.  The  EPA 
makes  it  easy  for  the  public  to  find  out  online  how  to 
submit a complaint. 

 

 

Enforcement 

prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 
EIR  focused  on  better  information  on  environmental 
damage, financial security and guidance.  

2019 priority actions 

  Better 

inform 

the  public  about 

compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  At  a 
minimum  this  should  involve  publishing  information 
on  outcomes  of  administrative  enforcement  action 
and  of  the  follow-up  to  detected  cross-compliance 
breaches on nitrates and nature. 
Provide more information on the practical aspects of 
co-operation  and  co-ordination  between  inspectors, 
police,  prosecutors  and  others  in  order  to  combat 
environmental crime. 
Improve 
publication 
environmental damage. 

information 

on 

of 

EPA 

When  monitoring 
identifies  problems,  a  range  of 
responses  may  be  appropriate.  The  EPA  provides  clear 
information  about  the  results  of  its  inspections  in  the 
Licence 
publication 
Enforcement175. 
on 
prosecutions  and  fines  in  the  District  Court  (the  lowest 
court  level). However, Ireland does not  publish  statistics 
on  administrative  and  criminal  enforcement  outside  of 
these subject-areas (for example on wildlife crime). 

and  Waste 

information 

Industrial 

includes 

This 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations 

in 

involved 

implementing 

environmental 
Those 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation,  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

is  especially  challenging. 

Tackling  waste,  wildlife  crimes  and  other  environmental 
It  requires  close 
offences 
cooperation  between  inspectors,  customs  authorities, 
police  and  prosecutors  –  and  judges  need  to  know  the 
challenges, too. The EPA has established the Network for 
Ireland’s  Environmental  Compliance  and  Enforcement 
(NIECE)176.  NIECE  brings  together  all  the  national 
authorities involved in checking water and waste-related 
compliance,  and  also 
Irish 
authorities  (to  help  combat  cross-border  waste  crimes). 
In  addition,  a  National  Waste  Enforcement  Steering 
Committee  has  been  established.  The  Committee 
determines  national  waste  enforcement  priorities  and 
drives  consistency  at  a  central  level.  However,  wildlife 
crime,  such  as  the  poisoning  of  birds  of  prey,  is  not 
similarly  addressed.  Furthermore, 
judges 
participate  very  seldom  if  at  all  in  awareness-raising 
events on environmental crime. 

includes  some  Northern 

Ireland's 

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 

Administrative capacity and quality 

Central, regional and local administrations must have the 
ability  to  carry  out  their  own  tasks  and  work  effectively 
with  each  other  within  a  system  of  multi-level 
governance. 

As mentioned in the 2017 EIR, much of the responsibility 
for compliance and enforcement lies with approximately 
30  small  local  authorities.  The  Environmental  Protection 
Agency  (EPA)  is  responsible  for  licensing  and  controlling 
major industrial, waste facilities, waste water discharges, 
the  contained  use  and  controlled  release  of  GMOs, 
Dumping  at  Sea  activities,  the  EU  Emissions  Trading 
Scheme and sources of ionising radiation. In addition, the 
EPA  co-ordinates  environmental  monitoring,  compiles 
and  reports  national  data  related  to  greenhouse  gas 
emissions, air pollutants and waste statistics. Since 2003, 
the  EPA  has 
included  an  Office  of  Environmental 
Enforcement177.  One  of  the  duties  of  the  Office  of 
Environmental  Enforcement 
local 
authorities  to  better  enforce  waste  rules.  Since  2014, 
Irish  Water  has  full  responsibility  over  water  services 
(both  drinking  water  and  waste  water)  in  the  country 
(before 34 local authorities). 

to  encourage 

is 

173 Environmental Protection Agency, See It? Say It! 
174 Environmental Protection Agency, Citizen Science. 
175 Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Industrial and Waste Licence 
Enforcement Report 2016. 
176 Environmental Protection Agency, Network for Ireland's 
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. 

177 The Irish authorities informed the Commission that, in 2015, three 
waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLAs) were 
announced, which are tasked with driving further performance 
improvements by individual local authorities. 

31 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Ireland’s  score  in  the  2018  Environmental  Performance 
Index is 78.77 and it ranks 9 out of 180. 

Coordination and integration 

Environmental 

Impact  Assessment 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  transposition  of  the 
revised 
(EIA) 
Directive178  provides  an  opportunity  for  countries  to 
streamline their regulatory framework on environmental 
assessments.  Despite  a  delay  in  full  transposition  (the 
transposition  deadline  was  May  2017),  Ireland  has  now 
transposed the revised Directive.  

the 

in  environmental  assessments 

The  Commission  encourages 
streamlining  of 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
avoid  overlaps 
for 
projects.  Streamlining  helps  to  reduce  unnecessary 
administrative  burden. 
It  also  accelerates  decision-
making  without  compromising  the  quality  of  the 
environmental  assessment  procedure179. 
Ireland  has 
started  to  coordinate  its  environmental  assessments 
under the EIA and Habitats Directives.  

Environmental impact assessments are an integral part of 
the planning and industrial permitting  system in Ireland, 
which  is  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Department  of 
Housing,  Planning  and  Local  Government  and  the 
industrial  permitting  system  regulated  by  EPA.  While 
most  planning  decisions  are  made  by  local  authorities, 
the  national  planning  authority,  An  Bord  Pleanála,  is 
responsible  for  approving  applications  where  an  EIA  is 
required (including where the project developer is a state 
authority).  The  aim  of  involving  An  Bord  Pleanála  is  to 
ensure  greater  rigour  and  consistency.  Environmental 
enforcement bodies include the EPA and Irish Water, and 
the  National  Parks  and  Wildlife  Service.  The  shared 
competency environmental assessment roles undertaken 
by the EPA include AA, EIA and SEA180. 

An Bord Pleanála is required by law to consult  a number 
of  environmental  bodies  for  EIA  decisions.  These  bodies 
(so-called  statutory  consultees)  include  the  EPA,  Irish 
Water, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. There 
appears  to  be  good  inter-service  cooperation  between 
these bodies. 

Strategic  environmental  assessments  appear  to  be 
relatively  well  used.  Although  the  government  ministry 
responsible 
for  policy  on  strategic  environmental 
assessments  (the  Department  of  Housing,  Planning  and 

178 Directive 2014/52/EU. 
179 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1. 
180 See last panel here: Environmental Protection Agency, Monitoring & 
Assesment.  

Local Government) does not have detailed statistics on its 
website,  the  EPA  provides  data  on  the  notifications  of 
strategic environmental assessments it receives annually. 
Of a total of 535 notifications received, the majority (384) 
related to planning and land use, although strategies and 
plans 
figured 
for  water,  energy  and  waste  also 
prominently. 

Adaptability, 
(eGovernment) 

reform 

dynamics 

and 

innovation 

The  Irish  government  has  drafted  an  eGovernment 
strategy181. The strategy promotes the ‘digital by default’ 
principle, i.e. that government should use digital delivery 
of services as its preferred option. Although the strategy 
does not emphasise environmental delivery bodies, there 
are  clear  signs  that  the  main  bodies 
in 
environmental  policy  have  an  ambitious  approach. 
Examples of electronic services available through the EPA 
include: 

involved 

 

 

 

 

online  applications  for  permits,  including  under  the 
EID  have  been  introduced  since  2017  with  much  of 
the administrative data  for processing,  enforcement 
and EU reporting purposes captured electronically; 

a  recently  announced  online  Geo  tool  to  provide 
in  special 
nature  protection  data  for  projects 
protection areas182. The bespoke tool was developed 
by  the  EPA,  in  partnership  with  the  National  Parks 
and  Wildlife  Service  (NPWS)  of  the  Department  of 
Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; 

public  databases  of  permits,  which  provide  full 
access  to  all  documents 
(including  documents 
submitted by third parties); 

information  on  enforcement  activities  (site  visits, 
enforcement notices, etc.). 

The  EU-PACK  study  shows  that  Ireland  had  a  relatively 
high  (46 %)  level  of  eGovernment  users  in  2015,  with  a 
sharp  rise  since  2013.  Ireland  also  ranks  in  the  second 
quintile  of  performers  on  ‘digitalisation  and  service 
delivery’. 

For  digital  public  services,  Ireland  scored  0.65/1 
in 
Europe’s Digital Progress Report 2018. This score is above 
the EU-28 average of 0.58/1. 

Legislation  has  been  proposed  by  the  government  to 
streamline  access  to 
in  strategic 
infrastructure decisions. 

judicial  review183 

181 Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, eGovernment 
Strategy 2017 – 2020., 2017. 
182 Environmental Protection Agency, New EPA online tool will assist 
with nature conservation in Ireland, May 17 2018. 
183 See for example: Irish Legal News, New bill will ‘speed up’ judicial 
reviews of infrastructure projects, 7 February 2018. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Further digitisation of services can be expected. It will be 
driven  by  three  main  factors:  the  rapid  increase  in 
eGovernment use in the population, the EPA’s apparently 
successful 
introduction  of  a  unified  permitting  and 
inspections  database,  and  continuing  constraints  on 
government expenditure. 

The  Citizen’s  Assembly  mechanism  could  potentially  be 
used again, in which case environmental issues appear to 
fit  well  with  the  chair’s  recommendations,  in  concluding 
advice  to  the  Government  about  the  assembly  process, 
that topics could be suitable if they “seek to establish the 
national  mood  on  an 
issue”,  or  “seek  to  begin  a 
conversation about a topic of national importance”.  

Enabling financing and effective use of funds 

Ireland  is  recognised  as  making  effective  use  of  EU 
funding184.  Ireland  focused  on  implementing  transport 
and  environmental  infrastructure  projects;  developing 
human resources; and improving education.  

A  number  of  fiscal  and  market-based  instruments  for 
environmental protection are in place. These include the 
carbon tax, plastic bag environmental levy, fishing licence 
fees,  vehicle  excise  and  new  car  excise.  Revenues  from 
these 
national 
environmental funds or bodies185. 

instruments 

allocated 

are 

to 

2019 priority action 

  Ireland  can  further  improve  its  overall  environmental 
governance (such as transparency, citizen engagement, 
compliance and enforcement, as well as administrative 
capacity and coordination). 

International agreements 

The  EU  Treaties  require  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018186.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 

184 Coman, Amalia Nicoleta & Coman, Paul, "Ireland: An Example of Best 
Practices in the Utilization of EU funds," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC 
journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(28), 
(2010), pp. 661-674. 
185 Watkins E., Withana S. and ten Brink P., Capacity building for 
environmental tax reform — background report for a conference by the 
European Commission (07.027729/2015/718767/SER/ENV.F.1) and 
hosted by the Committee of the Regions (5 October 2017). Based on the 
study by IEEP, et al, Institute for European Environmental Policy, 
Brussels / London, 2017, p. 9. 
186 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  

respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  

Protocol 

the  Gothenburg 

Ireland has signed but  not  yet  ratified three agreements 
under  the  Convention  on  Long-range  Transboundary  Air 
to  Abate 
Pollution: 
Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone; the 
Persistent  Organic  Pollutions  Protocol;  and  the  Heavy 
Metals  Protocol.  Ireland  has  also  signed  but  not  yet 
the  Protocol  on  Strategic  Environmental 
ratified 
Assessment  to  the  Espoo  Convention  and  the  Nagoya 
Protocol.  Ireland  has  neither  signed  nor  ratified  the 
Helsinki  Convention  on  Industrial  Accidents  and  the 
Helsinki Convention on Watercourses and Lakes. 
Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)187/  Forest  Law 
Enforcement,  Governance 
(FLEGT) 
Regulation188 

Trade 

and 

In  Ireland,  only  one  body  owns  most  of  the  country’s 
forest.  The  Irish  competent  authority  has  checked  this 
one  body  and  reported  that  it  is  satisfied  with  its 
procedures.  However,  Ireland  has  indicated  that  there 
was  no  estimate  of  the  total  number  of  Irish  operators 
importing  timber.  From  March  2015  to  February  2017, 
Ireland  performed  all  358  planned  checks  for  operators 
importing  timber.  Several  enforcement  actions  have 
already  been  taken  against  those  infringing  their  due 
diligence  obligation,  prohibitions  or  the  traceability 
requirement.  These  enforcement  actions  have  often 
included remedial actions and penalties. 

On  cooperation  (Article 12  EUTR),  Ireland  referred  to 
close  cooperation  with  the  competent  authority  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  with  operators  themselves,  who 
may have feared reputational damage if found in breach 
of their EUTR obligations. 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)189  

identified 

Ireland  has 
its  competent  authorities  for 
genetic resources, but it has still not adopted a formal act 
to  designate  these  competent  authorities.  Ireland  has 
also  not  laid  down  any  rules  for  penalties  for  crimes 
involving genetic resources. The Commission sent a letter 
of formal notice in January 2018. 

the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  wildlife 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)190 

In  line  with  the  obligations  laid  down  in  the  Basic 
Regulation which transposes the major obligations of the 

187 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010. 
188 Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 
189 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 
190 European Commission, The Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Ireland 

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 
of Wild Fauna  and Flora  (CITES) into EU law, Ireland has 
established 
is 
processing  (requests  for)  import,  (re-)  export  and  intra-
EU trade documents on a regular basis. 

relevant  national  authorities  and 

Reports  on  seizures  of  illegal  wildlife  shipments  (in 
particular  those  reported  every  6  months  to  TRAFFIC 
under  its  contract  with  the  Commission,  and  those 
exchanged  through  the  EU-TWIX  platform)  show  the 
activity of customs authorities. 

2019 priority action 

 

Increase  efforts  to  be  party  to  relevant  multilateral 
agreements,  by  signing  and  ratifying  multilateral 
agreements that are not yet signed or ratified. 

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs 

development 

and 

the 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 

implement  environmental 

strategy 

first  national 

Ireland's 
sustainable 
development  was  adopted  by  the  Irish  government  in 
1997. For the World Summit on Sustainable Development 
in 2002, Ireland published ‘Making Ireland’s Development 
Sustainable — Review, Assessment and Further Action’. 

for 

In June 2012, the government published ‘Our Sustainable 
Future — A Framework for Sustainable Development for 
Ireland (OSF)’. The OSF takes account of developments at 
international and EU level designed to deliver an effective 
transition  to  an  innovative,  low-carbon  and  resource-
efficient future. 

Ireland  submitted  a  voluntary  national  review  on  its 
implementation  of  the  SDGs  in  2018.  The  voluntary 
national  review  describes  a  process  of  coordination 
across  government.  This  process  relies  primarily  on 
government  responsibility,  where  each  government 
minister  has  responsibility  for  the  targets  which  fall 
within  their  remit.  The  Department  of  Communications, 
Climate Action and Environment has overall responsibility 
for implementing the SDGs. It is charged with ‘overseeing 
implementation  across  government’. 
their  coherent 
Structures  have  been  established  to  help  with  this, 
including  a  Senior  Officials  Group  and  an  SDG  Inter-
Departmental  Working  Group.  The  report  notes  the 
in 
importance  of 
implementing the  SDGs, but  it does not  indicate  specific 
mechanisms for achieving this. 

local  government  engagement 

34