There are many sources of particulate matter (dust) including vehicle exhaust emissions, soil and road surfaces, construction works and industrial emissions. Particulate matter can be formed from reactions between different pollutant gases. Small particles can penetrate the lungs and cause damage. These are known as PM10 (diameter less than 10µm) and PM2.5 (diameter less than 2.5µm). There are high levels of PM10 in many cities and towns. In smokeless fuel zones, levels of particulate matter decreased after the ban on bituminous coal in Dublin in 1990. The ban was extended to other parts of Ireland subsequently.
PM2.5 has similar effects on health as PM10. However, PM2.5 is a better indicator of anthropogenic (man-made) emissions than PM10. Fine particulate matter PM2.5 is responsible for significant negative impacts on human health. There is no identifiable threshold below which PM2.5 would not pose a risk.
Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on National Emission Ceilings for certain pollutants (NEC Directive) sets upper limits for each Member State for the total emissions in 2010 of the four pollutants responsible for acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone pollution (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and ammonia), but leaves it largely to the Member States to decide which measures - on top of Community legislation for specific source categories - to take in order to comply. Ireland’s limits are as follows:
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 42 kilotonnes |
| Nitrogen oxides (NOX) | 65 kilotonnes |
| NMVOC’s | 55 kilotonnes |
| Ammonia (NH3) | 116 kilotonnes |
The figures in Indicator 1.3 refer to sulphur oxides expressed in terms of sulphur dioxide equivalents. The figures in Indicator 1.4 refer to sulphur oxides.
The main source of sulphur dioxide in Ireland is burning coal and oil to heat homes and industries and to produce electricity. Levels have decreased over recent years due to increased use of low-sulphur "smokeless" coal, increased use of natural gas instead of solid fuels and reduced industrial emissions through Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licensing.
Emissions from traffic are the main source of nitrogen oxides in Ireland along with electricity generating stations and industry. Oxides of nitrogen contribute to the formation of acid rain and of ozone. Nitrogen oxides levels in Ireland are moderate but are increasing due to growth in vehicle numbers.
Ammonia (NH3) emissions are associated with acid deposition and the formation of secondary particulate matter. The agriculture sector accounts for virtually all ammonia emissions in Ireland. Grasslands ultimately receive the bulk of animal manures produced annually in Ireland along with nitrogen in fertilisers. A proportion of the nitrogen in these inputs is volatilised into the air as ammonia.
Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are emitted as gases from the use of a wide array of products including paints, paint strippers, glues, adhesives and cleaning agents. Several constituents of gasoline are important NMVOCs, which are emitted by combustion and evaporation. NMVOCs also arise as a product of incomplete combustion of other fuels, especially solid fuels and as such there are significant emissions from residential fuel combustion. The principal environmental problem associated with NMVOCs is their contribution to the formation of ground level ozone. Fugitive emissions are intentional or unintentional releases of gases from anthropogenic activities. Intentional or unintentional release of greenhouse gases may also occur during the extraction, processing and delivery of fossil fuels to the point of final use.
The ozone layer is the Earth's natural sunscreen, filtering out harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. UV rays can cause damage to humans and other forms of life.
Although the ozone layer is high up in the atmosphere, chemical substances used at the surface of the planet can damage it. If the ozone layer is damaged, UV rays can get through and cause damage to humans and other forms of life.
Climate change refers to significant change in the measures of climate, such as temperature, rainfall, or wind over a long period of time. Climate change is a natural phenomenon. However, the current phase of climate change is being accelerated by human activities that result in the emission of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are those gases which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Seven greenhouse gases are regulated. These are:
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Methane (CH4)
• Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)
• Perfluorocarbons (PFC)
• Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6)
• Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3)
Carbon dioxide is the most important of the greenhouse gases as it is currently responsible for just over 60% of the greenhouse effect.
Each of these gases is regulated by global environmental agreements: the Kyoto Protocol running from 2008-2012; a second Kyoto Commitment Period running from 2013-2020; and an agreement signed in Paris in 2015 which comes into force in 2020.
Air temperature and rainfall have been measured since the early 19th century and the measurement network was reorganised and expanded following the establishment of the Irish Meteorological Service in 1936. The data in these figures are supplied by Met Eireann.
Bathing water assessment and classification is carried out according to EU Bathing Water Directive 2006/7/EC. Bathing waters are classified as poor quality when microbiological measurements are worse than the "sufficient" values set out in the directive.
For inland waters
| Parameter | Excellent quality | Good quality | Sufficient |
| Intestinal enterococci (cfu/100 ml) | 200 (*) | 400 (*) | 330 (**) |
| Escherichia coli (cfu/100 ml) | 500 (*) | 1,000 (*) | 900 (**) |
For coastal waters and transitional waters
| Parameter | Excellent quality | Good quality | Sufficient |
| Intestinal enterococci (cfu/100 ml) | 100 (*) | 200 (*) | 185 (**) |
| Escherichia coli (cfu/100 ml) | 250 (*) | 500 (*) | 500 (**) |
(*) Based upon a 95 percentile evaluation
(**) Based upon a 90 percentile evaluation
Both Escherichia coli and Intestinal Enterococci are types of bacteria that live predominantly in the gut of warm blooded animals, including humans. They generally enter the water environment in run-off containing small amounts of faeces from deposition on agricultural land or urban areas, from the land-spreading of manures, or directly from wastewater treatment systems and overflows. Their lifetime outside the gut generally ranges from a few hours to a few days depending on sunlight, temperature, and other environmental conditions.
Trihalomethanes (THM’s) are formed in drinking-water primarily as a result of chlorination of organic matter present naturally in raw water supplies. The rate and degree of THM formation increase as a function of the chlorine and humic acid concentration, temperature, pH and bromide ion concentration.
Before 2004, there was no parametric limit for compliance with levels of THM. In 2009 the limit changed from 150 µg/l (micrograms per litre) to 100 µg/l.
The Urban Waste Water (UWW) regulations define an agglomeration as "an area where the population and/or economic activities are sufficiently concentrated for urban waste water to be collected and conducted to an urban waste water treatment plant or to a final discharge point". Normally there is one agglomeration with a waste water collection system treated by one waste water treatment plant. The EPA report on villages, towns and cities with 500 people or more.
The Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 2001-2010 and the 1991 Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) set requirements on the provision of waste water collection systems and treatment plants, provide for the monitoring of waste water discharges and specify limits for certain parameters in the discharges.
The Regulations and UWWTD specify monitoring requirements and set limits on the concentration of biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids in waste water discharges.
River water is the principal source of drinking water in Ireland. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts an assessment of river water quality on behalf of Local Authorities and publishes the figures every three years. Samples are taken from over 3,000 locations around Ireland. These biological surveys began in 1971. River water quality is classified into four quality classes based on a scheme of biotic indices, which codify the characteristic changes induced in flora and fauna of rivers and streams in the presence of pollution. Unpolluted waters include pristine waters and waters of a less high but acceptable standard. Slightly polluted and moderately polluted waters are mainly characterised by eutrophication and may not be able to support fish life. Seriously polluted waters are characterised by the presence of high concentrations of biodegradable organic waste.
Nitrates can cause serious problems when they end up in groundwater or surface water by causing increased growth of algae and eutrophication of water systems. The drop in oxygen that comes with the presence of nitrates can lead to fish kills. The problem stems from the practice of spreading animal wastes – which contain nitrates in high concentrations – on land to improve crops and pastures.
Groundwater monitoring programmes are required to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of water status within each river basin, to detect the presence of long-term anthropogenically induced trends in pollutant concentrations and to ensure compliance with Protected Area objectives. Reliable and comparable methods for groundwater monitoring are an important tool for assessment of groundwater quality (this is applicable to quantity as well). A groundwater body will be at good chemical status if the following criteria are satisfied:
• General water quality: The concentrations of pollutants should not exceed the quality standards applicable under other relevant Community legislation;
• Impacts on ecosystems: The concentration of pollutants should not be such as would result in failure to achieve the environmental objectives specified for associated surface waters nor any significant diminution of the ecological or chemical quality of such bodies nor in any significant damage to terrestrial ecosystems which depend directly on the groundwater body;
• Saline intrusion: The concentrations of pollutants should not exhibit the effects of saline or other intrusions as measured by changes in conductivity.
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires both surveillance and operational programmes to be established to provide the information needed to support the assessment of chemical status and identification and monitoring of pollutant trends.
The data on water bodies count the total area of all ground water bodies assigned to a particular class of chemical status.
Forest Land
Forest is defined as land with a minimum area of 0.1 hectares under stands of trees 5 metres or higher, having a minimum width of 20 metres and a canopy cover of 20% or more within the forest boundary; or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. The forest definition relates to land use rather than land cover, with the result that open space within a forest boundary either permanently or temporarily unstocked with trees, along with felled areas that are awaiting regeneration, are included as forest.
Cropland
The definition of cropland includes “all annual and perennial crops as well as temporary fallow land.” This definition includes crops and temporary grassland managed as part of crop rotation systems. This definition also includes hedgerows associated with cropland systems.
The analysis of cropland area was revised significantly in the EPA’s National Inventory Report in 2016. Previously, the area of land associated with cropland was based solely on the annual total utilised agriculture area of crops reported by the CSO. The approach led to large inter-annual transitions between cropland and grassland use categories and failed to identify the full extent of land use patterns between cropland and temporary grassland. The previous approach did not present a complete analysis of the role of temporary grasslands managed as part of a rotational cropland system.
The revised approach from 2016 is based on a detailed analysis of the Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) data, collated annually by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Grassland
Areas of improved grassland (pasture and areas used for the harvesting of silage and hay) and unimproved grassland in use (rough grazing) are recorded by the CSO’s annual statistics. Semi-natural grassland is estimated using CORINE Land Cover data.
Wetland
Wetland consists of both managed and unmanaged wetlands. Managed wetland areas are commercially exploited for public and private extraction of peat and areas used for the domestic harvesting of peat. Unmanaged wetlands are natural unexploited wetlands.
Settlement
Settlement areas refer to urban areas, roads, airports and the footprint of industrial, commercial/institutional and residential buildings.
Lakes
Lakes are excluded from these land use categories. However watercourses, intertidal zones, coastal lagoons, salt marshes and estuaries are included. These are either included within Wetlands or Other land depending on the likely vegetation associated with each category.
Other Land
Other land is the residual area when all other land use types have been estimated. It is assumed to include rock and sand areas and hedgerows (unless already reported under agricultural areas).
Afforestation is the man-made establishment of new forests on treeless land.
The concept of forest cover used in this indicator is taken from “The State of Europe’s Forests” published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. This definition differs from the one used in Indicator 4.1. and refers to land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 metres and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ.
1. It includes areas with young trees that have not yet reached, but which are expected to reach a canopy cover of 10 percent and tree height of 5 metres. It also includes areas that are temporarily un-stocked due to clear-felling as part of a forest management practice or natural disasters and which are expected to be regenerated within 5 years. Local conditions may, in exceptional cases, justify that a longer time frame is used.
2. It includes forest roads, firebreaks and other small open areas; forest in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas such as those of specific environmental, scientific, historical, cultural or spiritual interest.
3. It includes windbreaks, shelterbelts and corridors of trees with an area of more than 0.5 hectares and width of more than 20 metres.
4. It includes abandoned shifting cultivation land with a regeneration of trees that have, or are expected to reach, a canopy cover of 10 percent and tree height of 5 metres.
5. It includes areas with mangroves in tidal zones, regardless of whether this area is classified as land area or not.
6. It includes rubber-wood, cork oak, energy wood and Christmas tree plantations.
7. It includes areas with bamboo and palms provided that land use, height and canopy cover criteria are met.
8. It excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems, such as fruit tree plantations (incl. olive orchards) and agri-forestry systems when crops are grown under tree cover.
Farm partners means that a farmer owns the land and Coillte manages the tree crop and shares in the profit.
Organic farming is a system of farming which avoids the use of soluble fertilisers, pesticides, growth regulators, feed additives and other chemicals. The organic farmer relies on the use of crop rotations, animal manure, clover, low stocking rates and good animal husbandry for producing outputs.
Well-structured soils that are rich in nutrients are said to be highly fertile. Given sufficient light, warmth and water, they will produce abundant crops. However, the nutrients removed by crops or feeding animals must be replaced or soil fertility will be run down.
Nutrients can be replaced by returning to the soil, plant, animal or human waste, such as sewage sludge, or by adding mineral fertilisers. To grow well, crops need a balanced supply of essential nutrients. The main nutrients used in Ireland are nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and lime. These and most other nutrients are normally dissolved in water in the soil.
Irish data in Indicator 4.7 includes lime fertilisers as well as nitrogen, phosphorous and potash. EU data in Indicator 4.8 do not include lime fertilisers.
Both Irish and EU data refer to fertiliser sales rather than use.
Irish data for cattle are obtained by the CSO from Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system, formerly known as the Cattle Movement Monitoring System (CMMS). This system was introduced at the beginning of 2000 and involves electronically recording data on animal movements. Information on cattle numbers and on flows into and out of the cattle population has been available from this system since December 2002.
Sheep numbers in Ireland were collected by a CSO survey of sheep farmers up until 2017 when the data was taken from the Sheep and Goat survey conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Pig numbers in Ireland have been collected using a specialist pig survey conducted by the CSO since 1973. The survey was conducted on a quarterly basis until 1998 and on a bi-annual basis since then.
Total Primary Energy Requirement (TPER) is a measure of all energy consumed, including that consumed and/or lost in transformation and transmission/distribution processes (e.g. electricity generation transmission and distribution; oil refining). TPER = Indigenous Production + Imports - Exports - Marine Bunkers - Stock Change.
Total Final Consumption (TFC) represents the amount of energy consumed by the different sectors of the economy after all transformations have been completed. It excludes any losses that may occur in this process or in the transmission of these secondary sources of energy. The processes are the generation of electricity, oil refining and the production of briquettes (production of secondary energies).
The “Other” category in Table 5.3 refers to consumption of nuclear energy, energy generated from waste and derived heat. Derived heat covers the total heat production in heating plants and in combined heat and power plants. It includes the heat used by the auxiliaries of the installation which use hot fluid (space heating, liquid fuel heating, etc.) and losses in the installation/network heat exchanges. For auto-producing entities (entities generating electricity and/or heat wholly or partially for their own use as an activity which supports their primary activity) the heat used by the undertaking for its own processes is not included.
Production refers to the quantities of fuels extracted or produced. It is calculated after any operation for removal of inert matter or impurities (e.g. sulphur from natural gas). It refers only to indigenous production of fuels in Ireland.
Peat is a combustible soft, porous or compressed, fossil sedimentary deposit of plant origin with high water content (up to 90% in the raw state), easily cut, of light to dark brown colour.
Natural gas consists of gases, occurring in underground deposits, whether liquefied or gaseous, consisting mainly of methane. It includes both "non-associated" gas originating from fields producing only hydrocarbons in gaseous form and "associated" gas produced in association with crude oil as well as methane recovered from coal mines (colliery gas).
Hydro-power: Potential and kinetic energy of water converted into electricity in hydroelectric plants. Pumped storage is treated separately in the energy balance.
Wind energy: Kinetic energy of wind exploited for electricity generation in wind turbines.
Solid biomass covers organic, non-fossil material of biological origin which may be used as fuel for heat production or electricity generation. It comprises charcoal and wood, wood wastes and other solid wastes. Charcoal covers the solid residue of the destructive distillation and pyrolysis of wood and other vegetal material. Wood, wood wastes and other solid wastes cover purpose-grown energy crops (poplar, willow etc.), a multitude of woody materials generated by an industrial process (wood/paper industry in particular) or provided directly by forestry and agriculture (firewood, wood chips, bark, sawdust, shavings, chips, black liquor etc.) as well as wastes such as tallow, straw, rice husks, nut shells, poultry litter, crushed grape dregs etc.
Combustion is the preferred technology for these solid wastes. The quantity of fuel used is reported on a net calorific value basis.
Landfill gas: A gas composed principally of methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic digestion landfill wastes.
Biogas: A gas composed principally of methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic digestion of biomass, comprising: Sewage sludge gas, produced from the anaerobic fermentation of sewage sludge and other biogas, such as biogas produced from the anaerobic fermentation of animal slurries and of wastes in abattoirs, breweries and other agri-food industries.
Liquid biofuel covers the following fuels: Bioethanol - ethanol produced from biomass and/or biodegradable fraction of waste; Biodiesel - a diesel quality liquid fuel produced from biomass or used fried oils; Biomethanol - methanol produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable fraction of waste; Biodimethylether - a diesel quality fuel produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable fraction of waste; and Other Liquid Biofuel - liquid biofuels, used directly as a fuel, not included in biogasoline or biodiesels.
Solar energy: Solar radiation exploited for hot water production and electricity generation by: flat plate collectors, for domestic hot water or for the seasonal heating of swimming pools; photovoltaic cells; solar thermal-electric plants. Passive solar energy for the direct heating, cooling and lighting of dwellings or other buildings is not included.
Geothermal energy: Energy available as heat emitted from within the earth’s crust, usually in the form of hot water or steam. It is exploited at suitable sites: for electricity generation using dry steam or high enthalpy brine after flashing or directly as heat for district heating, agriculture etc. Ground source geothermal energy is included in the category.
In calculating the contribution of hydro and wind energy the effects of weather fluctuation are smoothed through normalisation. The normalised figures are what will be reported to Europe as progress towards renewable electricity targets and are required by the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC).
Energy dependency shows the extent to which an economy relies upon imports in order to meet its energy needs. The indicator is calculated as net imports divided by the sum of gross inland energy consumption plus bunkers. The data are based in tonnes of oil equivalent.
The fuel import data presented in this table are based upon International Energy Agency/Eurostat/UNECE energy surveys which are carried out by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
Vehicles under current licence includes private cars, goods vehicles, motor cycles, tractors, dumpers, excavators, public service vehicles, exempt vehicles and other vehicles.
New vehicles registered after 1st July 2008 are subject to motor vehicle duty based on CO2 emissions rather than on engine size. The table below sets out the seven band classes.
| Band | CO2 emissions – grammes per km |
| A | O – 120 g |
| B | More than 120 g/km up to and including 140 g/km |
| C | More than 140 g/km up to and including 155 g/km |
| D | More than 155 g/km up to and including 170 g/km |
| E | More than 170 g/km up to and including 190 g/km |
| F | More than 190 g/km up to and including 225 g/km |
| G | More than 225 g/km |
Irish road freight transport figures refer to transport by Irish registered vehicles on national and international road networks. The same definition is used for EU figures.
Tonne-kilometres: For end-to-end journeys this is the result of multiplying the weight of goods carried by the distance they were carried. For split delivery/collection journeys more complex formulae were used. These involved multiplying the distance travelled with a load by an estimate of the average weight of load carried.
Tonnes carried is the weight of goods (including empties) carried inclusive of packaging etc. excluding the weight of demountable containers (if any) in which the goods are carried. For split delivery/collection journeys tonnes carried are taken as the weight of goods at the start of the journey plus the weight of any other goods collected during the survey.
Vehicle kilometres is the total distance covered by road freight vehicles.
Public bus and coach transport in Ireland refers to large public service vehicles (PSVs) which cover all buses and coaches except those in private use and youth community buses. Public bus transport services consist of Dublin City, provincial cities and towns, and other scheduled and school transport services.
LUAS Green and Red line tram services became operational in Dublin in 2004.
Rail passenger transport figures in the Ireland includes DART services. EU data are not applicable for Cyprus and Malta which do not have rail networks.
Sea passenger data refers to international arrivals and departures at Irish sea ports, excluding passengers on cruise ships, commercial traffic or freight. Air passenger data in Table 6.8 refers to the number of international passengers carried on flights (both scheduled and unscheduled) arriving at and departing from airports in Ireland. Figures in 6.9 refer to passenger carried on international flights (both scheduled and unscheduled) arriving at or departing from airports in the EU.
The data in this table are from the Census of Population question: “How do you usually travel to work, school or college?”
The respondent is asked to choose only one option, representing the longest part of their usual journey. The question is only asked of people working, and does not include students, unemployed or retired people.
Municipal waste means solid household waste as well as commercial and other waste that, because of its nature or composition, is similar to household waste. It excludes municipal sludges and effluents. Municipal waste consists of three main elements - household, commercial (including non-process industrial waste) and street cleansing waste (street sweepings, street bins, municipal parks and cemeteries maintenance, waste, litter campaign material).
Waste management means the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of waste, including the supervision of such operations and the aftercare of disposal sites and including actions taken by dealers and brokers.
Disposal means any operation which is not recovery even where the operation involves, as a secondary consequence, the reclamation of substances or energy.
Packaging is used to contain, protect and present goods. Virtually all packaging eventually becomes waste. Packaging is made from such materials as cardboard, paper, glass, plastic, steel, aluminium, wood and composite materials such as those used in milk and juice cartons.
Recovery means any operation the principal result of which is waste serving a useful purpose by replacing other materials which would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function, or waste being prepared to fulfil that function, in the plant or in the wider economy.
The EPA collects and compiles statistics relating to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) under EU Directive 2012/19/EC which replaced the earlier WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC. WEEE data are now split into 10 European categories compared with five WEEE categories used in the 2014 Environmental Indicator report. There is a break therefore in the time series between data referring to years before 2012 and subsequent years (which are included in indicator 7.6).
The 10 European WEEE categories are: large household appliances; small household appliances; IT and telecommunications equipment; consumer equipment; lighting equipment; electrical and electronic tools; toys, leisure and sports equipment; medical devices; monitor and control instruments; and automatic dispensers.
Construction and demolition (C&D) waste is all waste that arises from construction, renovation and demolition activities and all wastes mentioned in Chapter 17 of the European List of Wastes.
The bulk of the tonnage is made up of soil and stones, while the remainder mainly comprises rubble, metals, timber, plastic and wood.
Construction and demolition waste data are compiled by the National Waste Collection Permit Office in County Offaly.
The Countryside Bird Survey (CBS) is Ireland’s national monitoring scheme for common and widespread breeding birds. It is funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and is coordinated by Birdwatch Ireland. It has been running since 1998.
The Common Bird Index in 2016 was based on 52 common and widespread breeding farmland birds which are monitored as part of the Countryside Birds Survey. The Countryside Bird Survey is based on a random and stratified sampling design, where squares were randomly selected and allocated in sequence within eight regions. Approximately 300 survey sites (one kilometre squares) throughout the country are surveyed every year and all birds seen and heard are recorded. These squares are located in a variety of habitats because of the random nature of the selection of squares, but squares with more than 50% water have been excluded. Accordingly, it is expected the species recorded reflect the diversity of habitats available in Ireland. Trends are generated for all species that occur in a minimum of 30 squares on average. Below this threshold, the trend result is much less robust. Consequently trends are produced only for those species that are relatively widespread. Species with more localised distributions are not included in the trend analyses. Accordingly, most of the species that are included are habitat generalists.
The indicator is an aggregated index of population trend estimates of a selected group of 39 breeding bird species dependent on agricultural land for nesting or feeding. Indices are calculated for each species independently and are weighted equally when combined in the aggregate index using a geometric mean. Aggregated EU indices are calculated using population-weighted factors for each country and species.
EU Member States, concerned about the decline of wild bird species, adopted the Birds Directive 79/409/EEC in April 1979. It is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones. Amended in 2009, it became Directive 2009/147/EC.
Habitat loss and degradation are the most serious threats to the conservation of wild birds. The Directive places emphasis on the protection of habitats for endangered and migratory species. It establishes a network of Special Protected Areas (SPA’s), including all the most suitable territories for these species. Since 1994, all SPA’s are included in the Natura 2000 ecological network, set up under the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. Indicator 8.3 refers to terrestrial SPA’s only.
Adopted in 1992, the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora aims to promote the maintenance of biodiversity, taking account of economic, social, cultural and regional requirements. It forms the cornerstone of Europe’s nature conservation policy with the Birds Directive and establishes the EU wide Natura 2000 ecological network of protected areas, safeguarded against potentially damaging developments.
Member States are required to designate Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) for threatened species and habitats. This ensures the conservation of a wide range of rare, threatened or endemic species, including around 450 animals and 500 plants. Some 200 rare and characteristic habitat types are also targeted for conservation in their own right. Indicator 8.4 refers to terrestrial SAC’s only.
The term "national monument" as defined in Section 2 of the National Monuments Act (1930) means a monument "the preservation of which is a matter of national importance by reason of the historical, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest attaching thereto.” National monuments in State care include those which are in the ownership or guardianship of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Every development plan by planning authorities includes a record of protected structures where the authority decides that they possess sufficient architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest to merit designation as a protected structure.
An environmental tax is defined by Regulation (EU) 691/2011 as: “a tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of a physical unit) of something that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment, and which is identified in the European System of Accounts as a tax.”
Once a tax base has been included in the list of environmental tax bases, any tax levied on that base is considered an environmental tax, irrespective of the motivation behind it. A list of Environmental tax bases was agreed by Eurostat, the EU Commission, the OECD and the International Energy Agency and has been periodically revised.
There are four main types of environmental taxes: Energy, Transport, Resource and Pollution taxes.
A carbon tax was introduced by the government in 2010, which placed a tax upon auto-diesel, petrol, aviation gasoline, kerosene, marked gas oil, fuel oil, LPG (Other), Auto LPG, and natural gas.
Transfers arise where goods, services and assets are provided without receiving any good, service or asset in return as a direct counterpart. National Accounts distinguish between two types of transfers: Current transfers which affect the level of disposable income; and capital transfers which are transfers linked to the acquisition (or disposal) of fixed assets.
The United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Capital Framework defines an Environmental Transfer as a “current or capital transfer that is intended to support activities which protect the environment or reduce the use and extraction of natural resources” (SEEA 2012 S 4.138).
The figures in Indicator 9.3 include environmental transfers from both the Irish Government and the European Union.
Environmental transfers in Ireland are classified according to nine CEPA (Classification of Environmental Protection Activities) and seven CReMA (Classification of Resource Management Activities) classifications.
Environmental transfers in Indicator 9.3 are aggregated from these CEPA and CReMA classifications into transfers associated with the production of energy from renewable sources; waste water management; protection of biodiversity and landscape; heat/energy saving and management; and other transfers.
The wholesale price index for energy products measures in index form the change in prices for electricity and petroleum fuels purchased by manufacturing industry in Ireland. The series is compiled using a Laspeyres type index.
The Consumer Price Index is designed to measure the change in the average level of prices (inclusive of all indirect taxes) paid for consumer goods and services by all private and institutional households in the country and by foreign tourists holidaying in Ireland. In 2017, approximately 51,000 prices were collected for a representative basket consisting of 615 item headings. Just under 500 prices were collected as part of the energy basket.
Personal visits are made to retail outlets by some 80 price collectors on a monthly basis. Approximately 48,000 price quotations are gathered in this way. In addition, special inquiries covering items such as utility charges and services are conducted by post, telephone and e-mail in conjunction with internet price collection. Most prices are collected monthly, some quarterly and others annually.
"Gas" includes both natural and bottled gas. Natural gas prices are obtained for residential usage (cents/pkWh); for the standing charge and for the gas carbon charge (cents/pkWh). VAT is included in all prices used. Bottled gas prices are calculated excluding the cost of delivery and cost of cylinder.
Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICPs) give comparable measures of inflation for the countries and country groups where they are produced. They are economic indicators that measure the change over time of the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households. They are a set of consumer price indices (CPIs) calculated according to a harmonised approach and a single set of definitions. In particular, HICPs provide the official measure of consumer price inflation in the euro area for the purposes of monetary policy and the assessment of inflation convergence as required under the Maastricht criteria.
Domestic extraction covers the annual amount of solid, liquid and gaseous raw materials (except for water and air) extracted from the national territory to be used as material factor inputs in economic processing i.e. acquiring value within the economic system. These materials consist of biomass, construction and industrial minerals, gross ores and fossil fuels. Concerning the water content of the raw materials, the convention is to account for all raw materials in fresh weight, with the exception of grass harvest, fodder directly taken up by ruminants, and timber harvest.
Domestic material consumption (DMC) equals domestic extraction plus imports minus exports. DMC measures the annual amount of raw materials extracted from the domestic territory of the national economic area, plus all physical imports minus all physical exports.
The data are a combination of Customs-based non-EU trade statistics and estimates from the Intrastat survey of Irish traders involved in trade with other EU member states. Imports and exports are classified according to the United Nations’ Standard Trade Classification, Revision 4 (SITC Rev 4). The SITC has been developed by the United Nations for the advancement of the international comparability of statistics on external trade.
The figures in Indicator 9.9 refer to all fish landings by Irish vessels in Irish ports.
The data are presented as tonnes of live weight equivalent. The data are calculated using the weight of fish landed at port, which is multiplied by a conversion factor depending on species. Landed fish may be whole, gutted and headed or filleted, and so the landed weight may differ from the weight of the fish as it was taken from the sea.
Aquaculture and inland fisheries are excluded from this set of figures.
Go to next chapter: Contact Details
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.