Credit: CJEU

In a judgment handed down last Thursday, the court identified serious non-compliances with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), introduced in 2000.

These include a failure to provide adequate controls on water abstraction and a failure to put in place a regulatory framework to prevent physical damage to Irish waterways.

The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), a network of 25 environmental organisations, has welcomed the ruling.

Sinéad O Brien, SWAN CEO, said: “After years of warnings, this ruling is a national embarrassment. The government has had 25 years since this law came into force — it must now act urgently to put this right.

“It must show that it is actually committed to safeguarding our rivers, lakes and seas, and our priceless water wildlife, by meeting its obligations under EU law.

“It must reduce the threshold for abstraction and introduce further robust abstraction monitoring and controls to protect our water resources for now and into the future.

“It’s now high time for the government to deliver much stronger measures in all areas affecting water quality to meet the main objective of the WFD overall, restoring all our waterbodies to good health.

“Current measures are only continuing to lead us on a path in the wrong direction, as shown by the EPA in its latest water quality report.

“The alternative to taking these actions is more declines in the health of our waters and daily fines from the EU — neither of which we can afford.”

Housing, local government and heritage minister James Browne told Agriland that the government “will respond to this judgment swiftly with positive and constructive actions in order to bring Ireland into full compliance”.

His department “will put in place a work programme to review the Irish statute book to identify any necessary amendments and to address all outstanding matters identified in this judgment”, the minister added.