Environment at a Glance Indicators

Ireland

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, biodiversity, and selected policy responses to these issues. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

Ireland is a small, open economy. Industry (including construction) accounts for about 40% of gross domestic product (GDP), a much larger share than the OECD average. The agro-food industry also plays an important role in terms of employment and exports. The Irish population generally enjoy a high level of well-being thanks to its open and dynamic economy, which relies on a sizeable manufacturing sector with high value-added industries and a high level of transnational corporation activity. Since 2014, GDP figures are affected by the large role of the intangible assets of multinational enterprises in the Irish economy. Ireland is one of the two OECD countries (with UK), who’s GDP growth remain positive in 2020 (+5.6%), despite the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

While population density is relatively low in international comparison, the population density of the small region of Dublin is 21 times the national average. More than a quarter of the population lives in predominantly remote rural areas (i.e. in areas where at least half of the regional population needs more than an hour to reach a large urban centre by motor vehicle). Ireland is a unitary state where local governments play a strong role.

Ireland is a lowland country rich in water resources; its territory extends over 70.3 thousand km² surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and bordering Northern Ireland. The country is home to a rich biodiversity, including a large part of European peatlands, which covers 16% of the country’s area. Three-quarters of the country are farmland, mostly grassland, which sustain a competitive agriculture sector.

Climate change

CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion have decoupled from economic growth and total energy supply. CO₂ emissions per person are below the OECD average but above the European one. Demand-based CO₂ emissions (footprint) per person that accounts for all carbon emitted anywhere in the world to satisfy domestic final demand is however higher than the OECD and OECD Europe averages.

Ireland has an unusual GHG emission profile within the OECD: agriculture accounts for more than a third of emissions, followed by (road) transport and the residential and service sector. Methane emissions from livestock make the bulk of agricultural emissions, reflecting the role of dairy and meat production in Ireland’s agriculture. Emissions reduction since 2017 is due to lower power generation from coal and peat, reduced application of nitrogen fertilisers and lime on soils, and a warmer winter (in 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and associated reduction in activity and consumption led to a further decline (-3.6%) of emissions in 2020.

Energy mix

Ireland depends heavily on fossil fuels, including solid fuels (in particular peat), for both electricity generation and residential heating. Ireland committed to phase out coal and peat electricity generation by 2025 and 2028, respectively. About a third of active peat bogs have already been closed to extraction. Ireland relies on the United Kingdom for supply of most of its oil product imports and for a significant volume of crude oil. All of Ireland’s natural gas imports flow through the existing gas interconnectors with Scotland, even if they are not sourced from the United Kingdom.

The share of renewable sources in the energy mix has more than doubled since 2010, wind energy represents about half of it.

Air quality

Air emissions

Emissions of most major air pollutants, have declined since 2010, partly due to the 2008-12 economic recession. Other factors that played a role include the reduced use of coal and peat in power generation and residential heating, the upgrade of power plants and renewal of the car fleet. The 2016 retrofit of the coal-fired Moneypoint power plant helped reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxides (SO₂). NMVOC have only marginally decreased in the past decades. Ireland is compliant with the emissions ceilings under the NEC Directive for nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (N%VOCs) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂), but not for ammonia (NH₃).

Except NOx emissions per person, all intensities are below the OECD average. SOx and carbon monoxide (CO) intensities are among the lowest in OECD countries.

Emission reductions went on par with air quality improvements. Average population exposure to fine particles (PM_2.5) nevertheless remains above the new guideline value of 5 µ/m³ recommended by the World Health Organization.

Freshwater resources

Use of freshwater resources

Ireland has abundant water resources. However, water losses are high and have resulted in high and increasing water abstraction for public water supply.

As a result of dispersed population settlements, one third of the population is connected to individual wastewater treatment. All individual domestic wastewater treatment systems are registered with a local authority and are subject to inspection.

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Municipal waste generation declined during the economic recession in 2008-12, as a result of lower household disposable income and consumption.

Ireland introduced a landfill tax in 2002. The progressive increase of this tax rate, together with limits on disposal of biodegradable waste, has helped divert waste from landfills. Landfilling has been replaced mostly by waste incineration with energy recovery.

Material consumption

Domestic material consumption (DMC) has increased since 2011. It has grown at a faster pace since 2014 with the rebound of the economy. DMC consists mainly of non-metallic materials and biomass, food and feed, reflecting the role of the construction and agriculture sectors in the Irish economy.

Material consumption per person is among the highest in the OECD; material productivity is above the OECD and OECD Europe averages.

Biodiversity

Agricultural land (grassland and cropland) covers three-quarters of Ireland’s territory. Grassland covers more than two third of the country, by far the largest grassland cover among OECD members. Ireland has abundant freshwater bodies. Peat soils cover 16% of the country, the third largest peatland cover in Europe (after Finland and Estonia). The share of artificial surface is among the lowest in the OECD. Intensive agriculture, housing and infrastructure development, alien species and resource extraction are among the main pressures on Ireland’s biodiversity.

Ireland is home to more than 31 000 species. Much of Ireland’s richest biodiversity is in the marine environment. In addition to possessing a great range of invertebrate communities, the country has high numbers of whale and dolphin species, large seabird breeding colonies, cold water coral communities in the deep seas and many species at the northern or southern limit of their distributional range. Ireland is also an important staging post and destination for migratory birds and holds significant populations of birds rare elsewhere in Europe, as well as internationally important wetland bird communities. Improvements have been made and more species are in favourable status but many species continue to decline. The majority of Ireland's important habitats have an unfavourable overall conservation status, particularly raised and blanket bogs, sand dune systems, fens and mires, natural grasslands and woodlands. 

Protected areas

Protected areas cover a relatively low share or Ireland’s territory and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The number of sites with strict management objectives (IUCN categories I and II) is also low. Only about 0.2% of the country’s land is covered by protected areas that have had management effectiveness assessments and the same is true for 0.02% of the EEZ. Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) evaluations, can be defined as: “the assessment of how well protected areas are being managed – primarily the extent to which management is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives" (Hockings et al. 2006).

Policy instruments

Environmentally-related taxation

Real revenues from environmentally related taxes increased with the economic recovery in the second half of the 2010s. However, they did not keep pace with the growth of GDP and total tax revenue. Hence, when measured as a share of GDP and total tax revenue, revenue from environmentally related taxes decreased considerably. As in most OECD member countries, revenues raised on energy products in Ireland represent the bulk of the revenues from environmentally related taxes. This was partly due to the introduction of a carbon tax in 2010 and its gradual increase in tax rates and coverage. A significant amount of revenues is also raised on motor vehicles’ purchase and use. Taxes on pollution and resource management are applied in the waste management sector but raised only modest amounts of revenue.

Government support to fossil fuels and effective carbon rates (ECR)

Ireland implicitly supports the consumption of fossil fuels through favourable tax treatments. There was a strong increase in the support levels up to 2019, including an important increase until 2017 in direct transfers under the peat-related part of the PSO Levy scheme (a levy charged on final electricity consumers to finance purchases of power generated from renewable sources and peat). Support to peat-fired power plants decreased significantly in 2018-19. It was discontinued as from 2020 in line with Ireland’s commitment to phase out peat electricity generation by 2028. Ireland extended the carbon tax to coal and peat in 2013, but tax exemptions and rebates continue to apply to fuels used in agriculture, fishery, freight transport and power generation. Coal and coke products, and natural gas and used in chemical reduction, electrolytic and metallurgical processes also benefit from a full carbon tax relief. The same is true for the portion of fuel used to generate electricity in high-efficiency combined heat and power cogeneration plants. To mitigate the adverse impact of rapidly rising energy bills on household income, the government took support measures worth about 0.5% of 2021 GDP. Largely made up of untargeted electricity credits and reductions in energy-related indirect taxes and levies, such measures have provided only limited protection to poorer households. In response to high energy prices of 2022, the government announced a series of measures. Primarily three different “one-off” transfers to various energy users, and reduced VAT on energy products that was extended as high prices persisted.

Like many other EU countries, Ireland puts a price on GHG emissions via energy and carbon taxes and participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). More than 90% of GHG emissions are priced and 30% are priced above 120 EUR/tonne of CO₂.

Technology and innovation

Environment-related public R&D accounted for a very low share of total government R&D budget in the early 2000s, but has increased since, to pass the 4% in 2021. Ireland has prioritised research on renewables and energy efficiency. On average, about half of the energy public R&D budget focused on renewable sources in the second half of the 2010s, with a strong focus on ocean technology.

Ireland is a marginal player in environmentally-related inventions, with less than 120 patent applications annually by national inventors in more than two jurisdictions. Their share in total inventions is also below the OECD average, at about 8%.

Environment-related Official Development Assistance (ODA)

Ireland focuses its development co-operation on least developed countries (LDCs) and fragile contexts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, concentrating on social sectors and humanitarian assistance. Most official development assistance (ODA) is channelled to multilateral organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs). Ireland’s total ODA (USD 2.4 billion) increased in 2022, mostly due to higher in-donor refugee costs and higher contributions to international organisations. ODA represented 0.63% of gross national income (GNI). In 2020-21, Ireland committed 26.6% of its total bilateral allocable aid (USD 129.3 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (DAC average of 34.3%), up from 23.3% in 2018-19. Seven percent of screened bilateral allocable aid focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.3%. Nineteen percent of total bilateral allocable aid focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 29%), down from 20.5% in 2018-19. Ireland had a greater focus on adaptation (21.8%) than mitigation (12.2%) in 2020-21. Nine percent of total bilateral allocable aid focused on biodiversity (compared with the DAC average of 6.5%), up from 7.9% in 2018-19.

References and further reading

CBD (2022), Country profiles: Ireland, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=ie

OECD (2023), "Ireland", in Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en.

OECD (2022), OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2022 Issue 1, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/62d0ca31-en.

OECD (2021), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Ireland 2021, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9ef10b4f-en.

IEA (2019), Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Ireland 2019, Energy Policies of IEA Countries, IEA, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1594fe3e-en.

UNEP-WCMC (2024), “Protected Area Profile for Hungary”, the World Database of Protected Areas, www.protectedplanet.net

Central Statistics Office

Central Statistics Office: Environment Taxes

Central Statistics Office: Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Central Statistics Office: Material Flow Accounts

Environmental Protection Agency: Air quality

Environmental Protection Agency: GHG emissions

Environmental Protection Agency: Waste

Protected Sites in Ireland

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Energy statistics