The European Commission is threatening to take Ireland to court again for breaking EU law on the collection and treatment of waste water.
The European Court of Justice already ruled, back in 2019, that Ireland had “failed to fulfil its obligations” under EU law in 28 areas of the country.
Ireland was failing to collect and treat, or failing to sufficiently treat, waste water in dozens of places including Cork, Roscommon, Killagoley and Longford.
The court also warned that untreated, or poorly treated, water was subsequently flowing into the environment in “sensitive areas”.
At the time, the government argued that a number of works were in progress to improve the situation.
But the Environmental Protection Agency again warned last month, that water quality was still a problem.
The EPA says raw sewage is still flowing untreated into the environment from thousands of homes every day.
Half of the waste water in Ireland’s 177 large urban areas was produced in 10 towns and cities judged to have failed to meet EU standards.
The European Commission is now threatening to get tough.
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (Directive 91/271/EEC) “aims to protect people’s health and the environment by requiring that urban waste water is collected and treated before discharge into the environment.
Towns and cities need to put in place the necessary infrastructure in order to collect and treat their urban waste water. Uncollected or untreated waste water can put human health at risk and pollute lakes, rivers, soil and coastal and groundwater.
Ireland should have complied with the requirements of the Directive by 31 December 2005 at the latest.”
The European Commission says that whilst improvements have been made, there are still 16 areas which it judges to be non-compliant.
Ireland has two months to respond to the EU and show that it is addressing the shortcomings.
“In the absence of a satisfactory response, the European Commission may decide to refer Ireland to the Court of Justice of the European Union with a request to impose financial sanctions”, it warned.
Water quality issues are the responsibility of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH).
Responding to today’s warning from the EU, the department would only confirm that it had responded to earlier concerns from the European Commission.
“In February 2024, Ireland received a letter of formal notice in relation to compliance with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive in 11 urban areas. DHLGH responded to the [letter of formal notice] LFN in April 2024.”