EPA: Strong environmental performance from City Council

Cork City Council performed strongly in its environmental enforcement responsibilities last year, according to a report released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The report, which assessed performance of National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs) across all 31 local authorities in Ireland, found that Cork City Council achieved a “strong” result across 13 NEPs, with an “excellent” result in one NEP. The council achieved a “moderate” result in only one NEP, while none were ranked as “limited”.

Cork City Council employed 22 office-based staff and 85 outdoor staff across several areas including Cleansing, Waste, Water, Air, and Noise, according to a spokesperson from Cork City Council.

They said that the council deals with 189 licences annually, and carried out 11,500 inspections in 2025.

A total of 3,005 complaints were received by the council - 2,321 for cleansing, and 684 for waste enforcement. There were 3,017 enforcement actions taken on foot of these, with 62 prosecutions.

The spokesperson said: "There are still significant challenges facing our Local Authority - environmental complaints continue to rise each year and there are areas such as illegal dumping and littering which continue to be issues.

"However positive results such as this and recent IBAL reports show that Cork City Council are very proactive and continue to set high standards."

There are 15 NEPs in total which councils are scored on - five in waste, four in water, four in air and noise, and two in governance processes.

Cork City Council achieved an “excellent” score in the ‘Planning for Environmental Inspections’ NEP, and a “moderate” result in the ‘Discharge Licenses/Misconnections’ NEP, under water.

It was joined on 13 “strong” NEPs by Carlow, Kerry, Kildare, Monaghan, and Roscommon County Councils, and Dublin City Council.

The strongest performers were Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, and South Dublin County Councils, and Galway City Council, who all achieved either “strong” or “excellent” results across their NEPs.

The poorest performing local authorities, Sligo, and Leitrim County Councils, achieved eight and five “strong” results respectively.

Across the country, local authorities employed 668 environmental staff, who were responsible for enforcing 10,700 licences, permits, and certificates.

Ray Cullinane, Programme Manager at the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “The findings highlight the importance of targeting enforcement activity where it can achieve the greatest environmental benefit.

“It is particularly encouraging that all 31 local authorities met the required standard for illegal waste enforcement, demonstrating the impact of focused and coordinated action.

“Local authorities should now build on this success to ensure effective enforcement across all priority areas, which will deliver better environmental outcomes for communities across Ireland,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.