There is “no clear evidence” environmental measures currently in place on farms will result in the necessary outcomes they set out to achieve, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said.

On water quality specifically, the EPA added that the structure of implementing measures will not meet the targets that have been set.

Speaking ahead of the launch of Ireland’s State of the Environment Report 2024, Dr Jenny Deakin of the EPA said water quality actions being taken on farms need to be targeted by catchment.

“What we have at the moment is a very one-size-fits-all approach, where the same measures and the same actions apply to every farmer.

“There are some places where the measures maybe are going in, but they’re not being targeted sufficiently and maybe not achieving the outcome that is needed,” she said.

The report author added that the EPA is calling for catchments’ water quality to be analysed and measures subsequently applied to meet these needs.

“That evaluation piece is missing at the moment and as a result, when we don’t see the outcomes we need, the Government’s response is just to pile on more measures,” Deakin said.

On agriculture, the report –which comes out every four years – said a shared vision for land use and the food system is urgently required.

“A clear pathway for the agriculture and land use sector, and adequate supports to achieve it, must be put in place,” it added.

Centralisation across the country needs to be adopted, the report said, including the need for fewer cars and land use planning in line with this.

It added that Ireland needs to “reframe how we approach national land use decisions”.

“Emerging evidence shows that we can implement solutions that deliver natural, social and economic capital together,” it said.

Water quality could improve within months in some cases

The level of nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies can improve within months in some cases, Dr Jenny Deakin of the EPA said.

“When nutrient reductions are achieved in the landscape, the biology and the water quality can bounce back fairly quickly.

“For phosphorus, that can be in the order of months to a small number of years.

“For nitrogen, depending on where you are in the landscape, that can be similar, months to years. We’re not talking about the decades they would have in other [EU] member states,” she added.