Cork City Council scores well in environmental watchdog's review of  local authorities

Cork City Council was among the six top performers in the EPA’s Local Authority Performance Review 2024, but further action is needed on discharge and misconnections, the report said.

The EPA’s performance review found that six local authorities achieved high performance scores in 2024: Meath, Dublin City, South Dublin, Kildare, Fingal and Cork City councils.

Three further local authorities “consistently achieved good performance scores” over the past three years: Monaghan, Carlow and Cork County councils, while the five lowest performing local authorities were Leitrim, Galway City, Sligo, Clare and Donegal.

The report sees local authorities marked excellent, strong, moderate or limited in 19 National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs), with a requirement to meet a strong or excellent in all areas.

Cork City Council met the required standard of a strong or excellent result in 18 of the 19 NEPs in 2024. The EPA said that greater focus is required in the Discharge Licences/Misconnections NEP where performance did not meet the required standard any year for the last three years.

In 2024, Cork city scored excellent in two areas, both related to environmental inspections, strong in 16 and moderate in one. In 2023, they scored excellent in two areas and moderate in eight, while in 2022 they were excellent in three areas, moderate in five and limited in two.

Meanwhile, Cork County Council met the required standard of a strong or excellent in 17 of the 19 NEPs, with moderate results in two and strong in twelve. They were marked excellent in five areas which included inspections, septic tanks and tackling illegal waste activities.

The EPA commended them for these results, but said: “Greater focus is required in the areas where moderate results were attained, in particular the Environmental Noise Directive (ENDs) NEP where performance did not meet the required standard in any year throughout the three-year cycle.” 

In 2023, Cork county was marked excellent in seven areas and limited in three, while in 2022 they were excellent in four and limited in six.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, director of the EPA’s office of environmental enforcement said: “Strong enforcement of environmental laws is essential to detect pollution and ensure that those who break the rules are held responsible.

“Local authorities play a vital role in safeguarding our environment — especially when enforcement is prioritised and supported with the right resources.

“This report shows that most local authorities are responding to the challenge, but some lagging behind and need to do better.” Dr Mick Henry, senior inspector in the EPA’s office of environmental enforcement added: “Local authorities are making solid progress in waste enforcement, especially in tackling illegal activities and managing construction and demolition waste.

“However, enforcement in water, air and noise is showing slower progress. Agricultural run-off, trade effluent, solid fuel burning and traffic noise continue to harm the environment and public health.”