Ireland contrasts starkly with the rest of the EU, which is finally showing signs of reduced river pollution, particularly that caused by discharge of phosphates arising from sewage.
The environmental outlook for Europe may be bleak under some headings, but generally, reduced freshwater pollution is one of the few success stories of environmental policy, the European Environment Agency concludes.
However, the agency's report on the EU environment and its future outlook notes with concern that up to a third of water samples from small private water supplies in Ireland were contaminated by faecal coliform bacteria (indicating the presence of sewage or farm animal slurry) during 1995.
Though it accepts that upgrading of waste-water treatment is in progress, the agency suggests that greater effort may be needed to "reduce the diffuse load of phosphorous from agricultural areas".
On a more positive note, the EEA finds that the Republic is not under the kind of environmental pressure that many other EU states are at present. Neither is this part of Europe generating ozone-depleting substances at the level of many other member-states, who frequently exceed EU limits.
Despite this trend, however, there has been a welcome reduction in "transboundary air pollution" across the EU, the report states.
The report also notes:
fewer than 40 per cent of Irish landfills dealing with municipal wastes use leachate control systems, including lining such facilities.
incineration plants for non-hazardous waste are now in operation in most EU countries with the exception of Ireland and Portugal.
Ireland, in an attempt to increase afforestation, in many cases is planting fast-growing species and "often at the expense of habitats of high biodiversity value".
Irish people are mid-table when it comes to European cycling trends, but cycling rates in Ireland are decreasing.
The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Mr Dan Wallace, welcomed the report. "There are many references to Ireland: positive, critical or precautionary. That said, overall, Ireland's environment is shown to be very good, with fewer pressures on it than in many other European countries."
He acknowledged, however, "increasing environmental burdens from the growth in road and air transport, urbanisation, degradation of the rural environment and risks to natural and biodiversity assets".
The report, Mr Wallace said, was especially valuable as "it takes us into the future", while past reports had been notable for a lack of assessment of whether policies adopted to date would bring improvements or were "trends and developments pushing us off target".
