How is Mayo County Council doing when it comes to enforcing environmental laws around illegal dumping, air pollution, water pollution and more?

Local authorities improved their environmental enforcement performance by 20% over the past three years.

79% of the National Enforcement Priority assessments met the required standard of Strong or Excellent in 2024.

Here's what else you need to know from the EPA's report on the environmental enforcement performance of local authorities in 2024:

The scale was extensive - in 2024, 630 staff across 31 local authorities:

• Conducted 227,400 environmental inspections
• Regulated 10,700 licences, permits and certificates
• Responded to 76,500 complaints
• Carried out 18,050 enforcement actions
• Initiated 414 prosecutions.

Six local authorities achieved high performance scores in 2024. These were Meath, Dublin City, South Dublin, Kildare, Fingal and Cork City Councils.

The five lowest performing local authorities were Leitrim, Galway City, Sligo, Clare and Donegal.

Greater Focus required from Mayo County Council

In total, Mayo Mayo County Council ended up in the bottom ten of the EPA survey.

The county authorities met the required standard of a Strong or Excellent result in 15 of the 19 National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs) in 2024.

Local authorities are expected to meet the required standard in each of the priorities. Mayo County Council is commended for achieving an Excellent result in the DWWTS/Septic Tanks NEP.

Greater focus is required in the areas where Moderate results were attained, in reducing the impact of agricultural activities, when it comes to slurry/soiled water collection and storage.

The Performance did not meet the required standard in any year throughout a defined 3-year cycle.

The report explains, "further improvement is required, as local authorities must increase the number of farm inspections to achieve the annual target of 4,500 inspections, as set out in the National Agricultural Inspection Programme and the Water Action Plan 2024."

In addition, local authorities are urged to take a stronger enforcement approach, including cross reporting to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and/or prosecutions.

The EPA states: "Local authorities must prioritise and allocate appropriate resources to deliver the National Enforcement Priorities, which aim to improve air and water quality, promote increased recycling and re-use of waste and reduce people’s exposure to transport noise."

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