Ireland’s 2020 Programme for Government (PfG) (Department of the Taoiseach, 2020) set out 297 environmental commitments, 28 of which relate to water quality or water services and 20 of which relate to the marine environment.
The Water Forum commissioned research to provide an analysis of the governments progress to-date on implementing the water and marine commitments. The research also identified barriers preventing successful achievement of these commitments along with emerging water and marine issues that should be considered for future Government programmes.
Overall, the analysis showed progress varied across commitment categories, with progress on drinking water and wastewater scoring highest, while progress on water quality and conservation has been poor.
Barriers impeding progress across commitment categories included financial and staffing resources, government structure, planning delays, and conflicting sectoral policy priorities. Emerging issues of concern included increasing demand for water and wastewater services and the need for significant investment in digitisation tools to improve services. Climate change is a growing concern for freshwater quality and quantity management. Delays in designating Marine Protection Areas is also an emerging concern.
Recommendations to improve progress in Government commitments, to address systemic barriers and provide multiple benefits were presented under the following headings:
- Address constraints in relation to financial and staffing resources
- Support greater cross-sectoral and cross-departmental collaboration on water and marine policy
- Explore the potential for more innovative policy implementation tools
- Identify administrative barriers that are impeding progress on commitments
- Prioritise action on water quality and water conservation commitment
