Two decades is too long to wait to fix Ireland’s deficient wastewater treatment plants, says EPA.
The number of towns and villages discharging raw sewage every day has reduced from 29 down to 16 since the beginning of 2023.
Wastewater treatment at 10 large towns and cities failed to meet European Union standards set to protect the environment.
Uisce Éireann’s delays in delivering improvements at priority areas, where wastewater is adversely impacting rivers and coastal waters are prolonging risks to water quality.
Wastewater discharged from over half of treatment plants did not always meet the licence standards set to prevent pollution.
The EPA’s Urban Wastewater Treatment in 2023 report, released today, highlights progress in wastewater treatment, including a 45% reduction in the number of towns and villages discharging raw sewage, since the start of 2023. Nevertheless, wastewater treatment at many areas is not good enough to prevent wastewater discharges from impacting the quality of rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters. All deficient wastewater works must be brought up to the standards required to protect the environment but, based on Uisce Éireann estimates, this could take over two decades and will require substantial investment. As it is not possible to fix all the problems in the short term, improvements must be prioritised where they are needed most. The EPA has identified 73 priority areas where improvements in wastewater treatment are most urgently needed to protect our environment. Uisce Éireann has not yet started upgrade works at half of these.
Sixteen towns and villages discharging raw sewage in mid-2024.
Launching the report, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said: “Investment has resulted in stopping raw sewage discharges during the past year from 13 towns and villages that were priority areas highlighted by the EPA. This demonstrates that such investment protects our environment and benefits our local communities. The much-needed upgrade of Ireland’s largest treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin, treating over 40 per cent of all national wastewaters, is now well advanced, and this is to be welcomed. However, wastewater discharges continue to be a significant pressure on water quality in many of our rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters. Without an ambitious and sustained investment programme to build out our wastewater treatment infrastructure it could take over two decades to achieve the required standards to protect the environment. At an operational level, Uisce Éireann’s slow progress in designing and delivering the solutions needed at the waters most affected by wastewater discharges are prolonging impacts on water quality. Uisce Éireann must prioritise the prompt delivery of these essential works.”
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive sets general European wide treatment standards for large towns and cities. Ten areas, including Dublin, failed these basic standards in 2023. Wastewater discharge licences issued by the EPA to Uisce Éireann may specify more stringent standards than those in the Directive when such standards are necessary to prevent and reduce pollution of waters. Over half of licensed treatment plants discharge wastewater that does not always meet these licence standards.
Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said:“Wastewater discharge licences issued by the EPA set out the treatment standards needed to prevent pollution by wastewater discharges and protect our rivers and coastal waters. It is unacceptable that over half of licensed treatment plants do not always meet these standards, with issues ranging from short term breaches of treatment standards up to continuous discharges of raw sewage. The short term breaches should be resolved through effective management and maintenance of equipment. Uisce Éireann must address infrastructural deficits at the priority areas highlighted by the EPA during its 2025 to 2029 investment cycle. This will help deliver significant environmental benefits and protect water quality.”
The report includes a range of recommendations for Uisce Éireann, including the need to speed up its overdue assessments of how wastewater discharges impact shellfish waters, and to collect better information about discharges of untreated wastewater through storm water overflows.
Meanwhile, no public update on progress being made in relation to the River Suir in Thurles; promised by the Local Authority Waters Programme, (LAWPRO).
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that 16 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of September last; one of which was in the postal area of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The 16 Enforcement Orders were served for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020. The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and officers of the FSAI.
Four Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
Red Robin Takeaway LTD, River Street, Killenaule, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.{Dated 24/9/2024} Antonio’s (Take Away), 61a Ballybough Road, Dublin 3. The Lord Lucan Pub, Finnstown Shopping Centre, Lock Road, Lucan, Co. Dublin. Coolmine Shawarma & Grilled (Closed activity: Storage, preparation, handling and cooking of raw meat at the premises) (Take Away), Unit 40B, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Porters Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
Nine Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
Glens Takeaway and Diner, Cappaughna, Glengarriff, Cork. Grace’s Garden (Service Sector), Dublin Road, Shankhill, Co. Dublin. Koffee and Kale (Restaurant/Café), 21B Hill Street, Dublin 1. Spar (Closed area: Deli area only), Unit 3, 111 Reubens Square, Dolphins Barn, Dublin 8. Kimex Ireland Limited (Small Meat Manufacturing Plant), Unit 7, Golden Bridge Industrial Estate, Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8. Osteria 99 Italian Cuisine (Restaurant/Café), 1st Floor, 99 Monkstown Road, Monkstown, Co. Dublin. Polonez (Retailer), Unit 4, Walkinstown Retail Centre, Walkinstown Avenue, Walkinstown, Dublin 12. Café Sol, Cornelscourt Shopping Centre, Foxrock, Dublin 18. That’s Amore (Restaurant/Café), 107 Monkstown Road, Monkstown, Co. Dublin.
One Improvement Order was served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
Sizzlers (Take Away), 41 William Street, Limerick.
One Prohibition Order was served under the European Union(Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
Hearty Sunshine (Health Food Shop/Pharmacy/Sports Nutrition), Unit 2A Block, Moore Street Mall, 55-66, Parnell Street, Dublin 1.
Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in September include: a live rodent running across the floor of a food storage room; a dead rodent caught in a snap trap in a kitchen; clear evidence of a rodent attack on a bag of rice, along with bird droppings, feathers, and a dead bird present on the premises; active cockroach infestation beneath a cold service display unit storing uncovered food; inadequate procedures in place to control pests; repeated failure to cease handling raw meat in a premises which could not accommodate the safe storage, handling, preparation, and cooking of meat; lack of adequate, regular and thorough cleaning; no hot water, no soap and no facilities provided for hand washing and drying at the wash hand basin in the kitchen; persistent and recurring failure to comply with food hygiene legislation, demonstrating a complete absence of a food safety culture; false or misleading claims on a number of food products.
Dr Pamela Byrne, (Chief Executive, FSAI), said that food businesses must ensure that their premises are fully pest proofed.
“The number of Closure Orders served in September which listed evidence of widespread rodent or cockroach activity along with a lack of pest proofing, is very concerning. Pests can transmit very harmful pathogens to food, food surfaces and equipment and this presents a grave and immediate danger to public health. Every food business must ensure that they have a robust pest control system in place and that the system is checked regularly. It is crucial that swift and effective action is taken at the first sign of an infestation. Consumers have an absolute right to expect safe food. There is no room for excuses and adhering to food safety standards is a legal obligation for every food business,” said Dr Byrne.
Also, during the month of September, one prosecution was taken by the HSE in relation to:
Possible presence of peanut in specific batches of Favourit Hot Curry Powder 500g
Alert Summary dated Friday, October 4th, 2024.
Allergy Alert Notification: 2024.A37 (Update 2). Allergen: Peanut. Product Identification: Favourit Hot Curry Powder; pack size: 500g, Batch Codes L24250775, L24206775, L24201775 and L24205819. Best before date: April 2026,
Message: Further to FSAI food allergen alerts – View Links – 2024.A37 and 2024.A37(update 1), the above batches of Favourit Hot Curry Powder(500g) may contain peanut. Peanut is not declared in the list of ingredients. This may make the batches therefore, unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of peanut.
Message: The implicated batches of Dunnes Stores spice products listed above contain peanut residue in the mustard powder, which is not declared on the label. This may make the affected batches unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of peanut.
Progress, economic prosperity, and health all threatened unless Ireland increases the scale, pace, and ambition of environmental action.
Dul chun cinn, rathúnas geilleagrach agus sláinte i mbaol mura méadaíonn Éire scála, luas agus uail.(Irish Language Translation: Progress, economic prosperity and health are at risk if Ireland does not increase scale, speed and ambition (pride).
Ireland has modernized and prospered since joining the EU over 50 years ago – future prosperity and health are threatened unless we better protect our environment.
We are continuously playing catch-up – a forward step in one area is often matched by one or two steps back in another.
Actions on many fronts are having positive impacts but are entirely inadequate to deliver a healthy environment.
For too long we have merely aimed to ‘get by’, aspiring to only minimum standards – in many instances, we don’t even reach those.
Serious action cannot be postponed – we need a rapid and resolute advance in environmental performance driven by a national policy position on the environment.
For too long, the Report says, we have merely aimed to ‘get by’ aspiring to only minimum standards, and then in many instances not even meeting those. The report shows that actions on multiple fronts to address issues are not keeping pace with growing pressures and our environment continues to degrade. What is now needed, the report continues, is a strategic leap, a shared vision for how we will adapt our lives and work to protect our own existence within the next decade, and a national policy statement on the environment that articulates and drives this transition.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Ms Laura Burke, Director General of the EPA said: “We have made immense progress as a nation. Our membership of the EU helped us achieve that. We now look back to a time when we had serious industrial pollution of our rivers, when we relied on over a hundred municipal dumps, when we burned smoky fuel in our cities – and we can never go back to that”.
“But where we are right now,” Ms Burke added, “while it is better, is nowhere near good enough. We are always playing catch-up. We now have virtually no seriously polluted rivers, but we have hardly any pristine ones left, either. We now recycle more, but produce more waste than ever and export much of it. We are taking positive actions across multiple fronts, but they are not keeping pace with the growing pressures, and our environment is being squeezed. Increments now are not best use of scarce time and resources: We need to make a fundamental shift.”
That fundamental shift, according to the report, would start with a national policy position on the environment, that allows for long-term planning and would ensure that the environment is prioritised consistently across decades.
The report identifies five key essential areas we must prioritise to deliver the impact we need:
We urgently need a national policy position on the environment.
We must rigorously implement existing environmental plans and programmes to achieve the benefits that they were developed to deliver.
We need to transform our energy, transport, food and industrial sectors.
We need to scale up investment in water, energy, transport and waste management infrastructure.
We need to understand the absolute link between protecting our environment and protecting our health – harm one and we harm the other.
“We know what we have to do” Ms Burke added. “Our energy, transport, food and industrial sectors are the core of where this transformation can, must, and will happen. We must harness all of our resources to meet this challenge. Not acting now only postpones inevitable change that will be much more difficult, and more costly, later on.”
Dr Micheál Lehane, EPA Director said: “It is clear that our environmental challenges are interconnected and they are complex. We need to drive action across climate, biodiversity, sustainable consumption and pollution goals. This will not be easy and we cannot underestimate the challenges of moving to a path of a less wasteful, regenerative society. The IPCC has highlighted that there is now a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all. It is not negotiable. We need our air, water and natural environment to continue to prosper. You either change for the environment now or the environment will irrevocably change us and how we live later. We, in Ireland, must do our part in making this sustainable future a reality.”
Ms Laura Burke, Director General of the EPA concluded: “We can no longer take the environment for granted. By taking determined actions, we will ensure we are not going to go back, or playing catch-up. This time, we need to be ahead. A healthier environment is attainable for all and is within our reach.”
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