EPA report highlights discharge of untreated sewage in Louth
There is further concern for Blackrock, County Louth, which has been newly added to the EPA's list of urban areas failing to meet European wastewater treatment standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has highlighted an incident involving the discharge of untreated sewage in Dromiskin, County Louth, in its latest urban wastewater report.
According to the Urban Wastewater Treatment in 2025 report, pumps were switched off to facilitate contractor works but were not restarted when the work was completed. The EPA uses the incident to underline the need for better supervision of contractors working on behalf of Uisce Éireann.
The report also raises concerns about wastewater infrastructure in Dundalk, which is one of 35 priority areas where discharges are putting pressure on local water quality. Improvement works in Dundalk have yet to begin and are not currently scheduled for completion before 2030.
There is further concern for Blackrock, County Louth, which has been newly added to the EPA's list of urban areas failing to meet European wastewater treatment standards. The failure relates to more stringent nutrient removal requirements designed to limit nitrogen and phosphorus entering the environment.
There is some positive news for the county, with Dunleer listed among four priority areas where wastewater infrastructure upgrades have been completed. The EPA says the outcomes of these improvements are still being assessed.
The report contains strong criticism of the overall standard of wastewater treatment and management across Ireland.
During 2025, 55 per cent of the 505 licensed wastewater treatment sites discharged wastewater that did not always meet the treatment and effluent quality standards set by the EPA.
Although this was an improvement on the 59 per cent recorded in 2024, the regulator says the level of non-compliance remains unacceptably high.
The causes were divided almost equally between deficiencies in treatment infrastructure and inadequate operation and maintenance of treatment plants.
More than 600 environmental incidents caused by equipment breakdowns and inadequate operation and maintenance were recorded during 2025.
The EPA says many of these incidents could have been prevented through better management of existing infrastructure.
It is calling on Uisce Éireann to improve operating practices, provide appropriate staff training and support, and introduce effective preventative maintenance and repair programmes.
The report also highlights that approximately 1,350 short-duration or one-off environmental incidents occurred during the year, with almost half linked to equipment breaking down or not being properly operated and maintained.
At the end of 2025, there were also 262 longer-term recurring incidents, many involving wastewater discharges that continued to fail to meet EPA licence standards.
The EPA acknowledges that improvements are being made in wastewater treatment across the country but says they are not happening quickly enough or on the scale required to address environmental risks.
It warns that substantial investment will be needed over many years to provide the infrastructure necessary to ensure wastewater is appropriately treated and discharged in accordance with environmental standards.
The regulator has identified six key areas requiring attention, including compliance with EU treatment standards, the elimination of raw sewage discharges, improvements to sewer networks, protection of water quality, and safeguarding freshwater pearl mussel habitats and designated shellfish waters.
Across the 35 priority areas identified to protect surface waters, the EPA says improvements at around three-quarters of locations are not currently scheduled to be delivered for several years.