The Republic has been found in breach of multiple water quality and management regulations in a ruling that also raises questions about the way water charges are structured.
The ruling from the European Court of Justice found 14 breaches of the EU’s Water Framework Directive. The case dates back to 2007, when the European Commission sent the State its first formal notice of noncompliance.
Among the breaches is the manner in which the Republic regulates heavy water users who take water directly from rivers and lakes for agricultural, industrial or commercial uses.
Under Irish rules, there is an exemption from regulation for abstracting less than 25 cubic metres (25,000 litres) a day.
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The court sided with the commission’s contention that this was “excessively high”. Other countries use a daily threshold of 10 cubic metres.
The court also found that the State is not doing enough to prevent pollution of water sources, to achieve at least “good” ecological status for all water sources and to limit physical damage to water sources.
The Sustainable Water Network (Swan), an alliance of 25 environmental organisations, said the ruling was a “national embarrassment”.
It showed the “systemic and abject failure of the Irish Government to protect water”, the group said.
Minister for Housing James Browne, who is responsible for water services, said the Government would respond swiftly with “positive and constructive actions in order to bring Ireland into full compliance”.
However, he said he was studying the judgment with his officials, the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor’s Office and would not comment in detail immediately.
“Ireland has been engaging with the European Commission on this matter throughout all stages of the proceedings and recently sought to address the complaint through additional transposing legislation which was enacted earlier this year.”
The ruling also raises questions over the State’s adherence to the EU principle of “cost recovery” for water services.
“Member States had to ensure, by 2010 at the latest, that, first, water-pricing policies provided adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently,” the ruling states.
It states that it also had to ensure “an adequate contribution of the different water uses, disaggregated into at least industry, households and agriculture, to the recovery of the costs of water services”.
It says documents submitted by the Republic do not explain how the country’s water pricing policy “encourages users to make efficient use of water resources”.
The Irish agricultural sector appeared to be excluded from the analysis “despite the high level of abstractions carried out in that sector”.
Asked if there were implications for Government policy not to impose household water charges, the Minister stressed again that he was studying the ruling with the help of legal experts.
Swan chief executive Sinéad O’Brien said: “After years of warnings, this ruling is a national embarrassment. The Government has had 25 years since this law came into force. It must now act urgently to put this right.”
A report published last month by the Environmental Protection Agency showed the rivers, lakes and estuaries were continuously deteriorating with almost half of them in an unhealthy condition.
Dr Elaine McGoff, of environmental charity An Taisce, said the ruling was no surprise.
“Physical damage to our waterways in Ireland, such as dredging, draining and damage to habitats, is the second biggest reason why half our waters are unhealthy, after agriculture,” she said. “Yet we have failed to regulate in any effective way against these impacts.”
The court has ordered the Republic to comply with the Water Framework Directive. It has not applied fines for the breaches but has ordered payment of the unspecified costs of the legal proceedings.
