Carlow County Council was one of the best local authorities in the country for environmental enforcement performance last year.
The EPA’s assessments for found that it was one of eight to achieve a Strong or Excellent score in 17 or more of the 20 National Enforcement Priorities. Others were Kildare, Wicklow as well as Meath, Dublin City, Monaghan, Cork County and Donegal.
Kilkenny’s however with Wexford, Waterford, Westmeath, Galway City and Sligo failed to achieve a Strong or Excellent score in half of the NEPs which the EPA says is ‘not good enough and needs to improve’.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said; “The effective enforcement of environmental law is essential to identify polluters and non-compliant operators, and to hold them to account. Local authority leadership is critical in delivering better environmental outcomes through the prioritisation of environmental enforcement and the appropriate allocation of resources.”
Eleanor McDonald is Environmental Scientist and Waste Enforcement Team member with Carlow County Council and she’s been reacting to the report findings;
