Policing pollution performance: Let’s make this system work

Even if you factor in the standard excuses about a lack of resources, direction, or priorities, today’s report that more than a third — 11 out of 31 — of the country’s local authorities did not meet environmental legislation enforcement standards last year makes for shabby, dispiriting reading.

It reflects a level of failure that cannot be tolerated and must be challenged.

That only three authorities — well done Cork City, Louth, and Meath — were recognised by the EPA as having excellent, overall levels of enforcement confirms one of the oldest truths, or dishonesties, really, about this society: We are great at making rules, but not so very good at enforcing them.

And it is not as if we are unaware of the consequences of asleep-at-the-wheel regulation. When this half-hearted supervision is matched by the paltry sanctions facing environmental vandals — if they are convicted — it is hardly surprising that we have so much casual pollution or littering.

But what needs to be done to dramatically improve policing, to strengthen sanctions and make the regular kind of offence (pouring slurry straight into a river, say) a thing of the past?

More importantly, is there the will, the determination at government level, to confront these issues, to face down self-serving lobbies? There are many issues in today’s world that we can do little enough about, but this is not one of them. Let’s get on with it.