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Ireland’s Environment 2012
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Managing and Protecting
the Environment
Section III of
Ireland’s Environment 2012: An Assessment
examines the importance of the environment with respect
to two sectors: economy and health.
Environment and the Economy
The environment doesn’t exist in isolation; it both
affects and is affected by many aspects of our lives.
Environmental resources and ecosystem services are
direct inputs into the economy. Establishing a sustainable
pattern of development is a key challenge for Ireland,
and improving resource efficiency is a top priority to
achieve this goal. Embracing resource efficiency offers
a path to job creation and economic growth. Resource
efficiency is also one of the key environmental priorities
at EU level and is one of the seven flagship initiatives
within the Europe 2020 Strategy. The challenge is to
utilise resources in a sustainable manner throughout their
life-cycle, avoiding over-exploitation and reducing the
environmental and social impacts of their use.
Changing the consumption patterns of private and
public purchasers will help drive resource efficiency
and reduce waste with the potential to generate direct
net cost savings. Sustainable management of our
water and biodiversity resources is another aspect of
resource efficiency. Policies supporting energy efficiency,
sustainable transport and sustainable agriculture can
bring benefits to both the environment and the economy.
Transforming the economy onto a resource-efficient path
requires policies that recognise the interdependencies
between the economy, wellbeing and natural capital and
the removal of barriers to improved resource efficiency.
To achieve a resource-efficient and green economy, there
is a need to make a transition across all sectors of the
economy and, in particular, the energy, agricultural and
transport systems, as well as changing behaviours of
producers and consumers.
Environment and Health
Environmental protection and health protection are
inextricably linked. At a time of major concern about
employment and economic issues, it is easy to overlook
the truth in the maxim that health is wealth. Protecting
the Irish environment plays an essential role in protecting
the health of the population.
In Ireland the quality of drinking water from large public
supplies is comparable to that in other EU countries, and
the risks to health from all public supplies continue to
reduce. Implementation of legislation on waste water
treatment plants, industrial activities and septic tanks
as well as good agricultural practice will further reduce
the risks to drinking water quality and reduce water
pollution generally.
Air quality, noise and odour pose little overall risk to
public health in Ireland, although these issues can give
rise to localised concerns and impacts. The continued
implementation of relevant European and Irish legislation
will maintain a healthy environment. Actions are required,
however, to reduce the risk to health from high radon
levels in some areas.
Maintaining and benefiting from a healthy environment
requires coordinated efforts from many government and
public bodies to ensure that existing and future activities
maintain or improve the quality of the environment.
Small, medium and large-scale businesses and industry
also play an important role in this area by ensuring their
activities do not cause pollution or create environmental
liabilities for future generations, with a particular
responsibility falling to farmers as guardians of the rural
environment. Finally, the public play an important part
by not polluting their local environment and by taking
advantage of the tangible benefits to health that come
from contact with a good-quality environment.
In Conclusion
Ireland’s environment is a strategic asset for the State
and this report shows that, overall, the quality of the
environment in Ireland is generally high. However,
Ireland faces a number of formidable challenges in
the coming years to maintain a healthy and protected
environment and to decouple future economic growth
from environmental pressures. The challenges identified
are significant and not all will be resolved in the short or
even the medium term, but the benefits of addressing
them are great. A protected environment provides a clean
and safe place to live, while underpinning vibrant agri-
food and tourism sectors and making Ireland an attractive
place for inward investment.
Meeting our environmental goals will require clear
leadership by Government to guide and empower
people in making the changes needed in our lifestyles
and consumption patterns to live within our (environmental)
means. A cornerstone of sustainability is behaviour change
and, in moving towards a sustainable future, individuals
and businesses will have to engage willingly in a multitude
of actions including waste reduction, water and energy
efficiency and modal transportation shifts. The
overarching goal for our future must be to ensure
that as Ireland begins to work its way back to
economic recovery, it goes in a sustainable direction.