Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

377 Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing Bathing water. The use of our local environment is changing, with swimming now increasingly becoming a year-round activity. The overall quality of Ireland’s bathing water is high with 97% (143 of 148) of sites meeting or exceeding the minimum standard in 2023 (EPA, 2024c) (Figure 14.6). Localised issues remain from impacts from urban waste water discharge incidents, agricultural run-off and dog fouling. Ireland is below the European average in terms of the percentage of bathing water sites rated as excellent (79.1% vs 85.7%) (EEA, 2023e). Increasing the use of ‘prior warning’ notices (228 issued in 2023) to warn bathers of potential problems, along with a conservative approach to closing beaches in response to potential water quality impacts, is serving to protect bathers’ health. However, given the increasing recreational use of our bathing waters, further health protection would be served by local authorities officially designating more bathing sites and providing better information for those who wish to swim all year round. The public can suggest new bathing water locations to their local authority in order to have additional bathing water sites designated. It is essential that there is timely provision of information to swimmers and other recreational water users to help them make informed choices to protect their health. Figure 14.6  Map showing bathing water sites and the bathing water quality status of each Dublin area © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CartoDB Excellent Good Sufficient Poor Galway area Source: EPA, 2024c