Majority of local authorities reached environmental enforcement targets last year

The most common areas where local authorities struggled to meet targets related to construction and demolition, household waste and discharge licences for the release of wastewater into the environment. File picture

The majority of Ireland’s 31 local authorities met the environmental targets set out for enforcement in 2025, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin and Galway hit all of the 15 targets set out in National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs), which target the most significant environmental risks and compliance challenges across the country, according to the watchdog. 

They include action based on waste management, water, air and noise quality, and governance processes.

Leitrim and Sligo failed across multiple measures, with Leitrim falling short on 66% of its targets. Cork City hit 93% of its targets, while Cork County recorded an 87% success rate.

The EPA said local authorities carried out more than 252,000 environmental inspections across 2025, taking 23,550 enforcement actions, and initiating 386 prosecutions in 2025.

Local authorities received 11.8% more complaints in 2025 compared to 2024, and carried out 10.8% more inspections and 30.5% more enforcement actions.

The majority of inspections focused on waste (64%), with water (25%), environmental planning (7%), and air and noise (4%) making up the remainder.

Galway, Kildare, and Laois received the worst possible score in dealing with the Environmental Noise Directive, the main EU law used to identify noise pollution levels and act on them. A further 13 counties' enforcement of the noise pollution law was found to be just ‘moderate.’ 

The most common areas where local authorities struggled to meet targets related to construction and demolition, household waste and discharge licences for the release of wastewater into the environment.

Almost all local authorities hit targets for environmental inspection planning, local water quality pressures and farmland agriculture. All 31 authorities met the standard for illegal waste enforcement.

“Most local authorities demonstrated strong overall environmental enforcement performance,” said the director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Dr Tom Ryan.

“Improvements were evident across several key enforcement priorities with increased inspection and enforcement activity,” he continued. However, some local authorities such as Leitrim and Sligo County Councils need to do much better.

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“Local authorities must address these shortcomings by prioritising and allocating appropriate resources to maintain the positive momentum and to ensure consistent and effective environmental protection across the country,” Mr Ryan concluded.

The EPA said the unauthorised large-scale extraction of peat continues to present a barrier for local authorities in hitting their environmental targets.

The agency identified 44 sites of interest in at least eight local authority areas — Longford, Westmeath, Roscommon, Sligo, Offaly, Kildare, Tipperary and Galway — where large peat extraction was taking place outside of regulations.

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