Ireland has a battle on its hands over environmental concerns

In comparison with other EU member states, Ireland has a better than average water quality but faces major challenges to achieve targets set for 2015, 2021, and 2027 as required by the Water Framework Directive.

Substantial reductions in Ireland’s GHG emissions in recent years, due in significant part to the recession, mean Ireland is on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol commitment for the 2008–2012 period.

But EPA projections indicate that even in the best case scenario, Ireland will breach its annual obligations for GHG emissions under the EU 2020 target in 2017.