Health « Thurles Information

Environmental Protection Agency Reports Good Compliance At Licensed Sites.

EPA reports good compliance at licensed sites, but persistent challenges remain across the food and waste sectors.

The EPA carried out 1,681 inspections in 2025. This was an increase of 28 per cent compared to 2024.
Overall compliance among industrial and waste licensed sites is good. However, in 2025, ten licensed sites (1 per cent of the total) were identified as National Priority Sites.
The food and drink sector and the waste sector continue to feature prominently as a focus for EPA enforcement.
Sites in the waste sector had the highest rates of non-compliance with EPA licence conditions in 2025.
In 2025, the food & drink sector continued to receive the most complaints, mostly regarding odour and noise.
Odour emissions and discharges to water remain the most common compliance issues at licensed sites.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published its Industrial and Waste Licence Enforcement Summary 2025. It shows that the EPA carried out 1,681 inspections at 656 licensed sites across all 26 counties in 2025. This was an increase of 28 per cent compared to 2024.

The report shows that there is a good level of compliance overall among EPA licensed industrial and waste sites. However, ten sites, or 1 per cent of all licensed sites, were identified on the EPA’s National Priority Sites List in 2025. The food and drink sector and the waste sector continue to feature prominently as National Priority Sites. Odour and discharges to water were the primary compliance challenges.

Sites in the waste sector had the highest rates of non-compliance with EPA licence conditions in 2025, particularly anaerobic digestion sites, non-hazardous waste transfer stations and landfill sites. Some anaerobic digestion sites had persistent issues relating to the control of odour emissions.

Emissions to water remain a compliance challenge across a limited number of sites. Corrective actions are being actively enforced at sites that pose a risk to water quality, with one site being directed by the EPA to cease their effluent discharge in November 2025 until necessary corrective actions were taken.

Commenting on the report Ms Pamela McDonnell, Programme Manager in the EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “While the overall level of compliance continues to be good, the EPA has seen a continued pattern of non-compliance in a small number of sites. The consequences of non-compliance can be significant for the environment and those living locally. The EPA will continue to maintain strong on-the-ground presence across our licensed community to target those failing to comply.”

The EPA received 1,181 complaints from the public in 2025, most of which related to odour emissions. The food and drink sector accounts for 51 per cent of all complaints received by the EPA during 2025. Just five sites accounted for nearly two-thirds (59 per cent) of all complaints received. The EPA has investigated these sites and is taking appropriate enforcement actions.

Commenting on the levels of complaints received in 2025, Ms McDonnell continued: “Odour is a persistent issue at a small number of licensed sites. Operators must be good neighbours by preventing nuisance odours from impacting on people in their local communities. The EPA will continue to take action where odour nuisance occurs, including escalating enforcement measures. Site operators must run their facilities without causing nuisance by applying all appropriate odour‑control measures and, where needed, investing in additional odour‑control infrastructure.”

The Industrial and Waste Licence Enforcement Summary 2025 is available on the EPA website.

Concerns Raised Over Social Welfare Overpayments and HSE Fraud Risk Controls.

Millions in Public Funds Lost Amid System Gaps.

Newly emerging data has highlighted significant concerns around public expenditure controls in Ireland, with substantial social welfare overpayments and weaknesses in fraud prevention systems within the Health Service Executive (HSE) drawing increased scrutiny.

Recent figures confirm that millions of euro in social welfare payments have been incorrectly issued, including cases where payments continued after recipients had died. At the same time, a separate audit has identified structural vulnerabilities in the HSE’s payroll systems, raising concerns about the potential for fraud to go undetected.

Social Welfare Overpayments: Scale and Causes.
Official figures show that social welfare overpayments remain a persistent issue, with tens of millions of euro identified annually. In 2025 alone, over €24.6 million in overpayments linked to suspected fraud were recorded across more than 5,000 cases.
However, fraud represents only a portion of the overall problem. The majority of overpayments arise from administrative or customer-related errors. In recent years, over 60% of overpayments were attributed to customer error, such as failing to report changes in income or personal circumstances.

A notable proportion of unrecovered funds relates to payments made after a recipient’s death. Audit data shows that, in certain schemes, up to 85% of written-off debts are linked to deceased claimants, reflecting delays in notification or system updates.
While public discussion has referenced figures as high as €25 million paid to deceased individuals, there is no single official statistic confirming that exact amount. Instead, available data indicates that losses linked to deceased recipients form part of broader overpayment totals accumulated across multiple categories and years.

Recovery Challenges and Financial Exposure.
Recovering overpaid funds remains a significant challenge for the State. As debts age, the likelihood of recovery declines sharply, with only a small percentage typically recouped after several years.
In some cases, recovery may be pursued through estates after death, but where no assets are available or administrative costs are too high, the State may be forced to write off the debt entirely.

The scale of outstanding overpayments; running into hundreds of millions cumulatively, illustrates the ongoing financial exposure facing public finances.

HSE Audit Highlights Fraud Control Weaknesses.

Separate to welfare concerns, a recent audit into HSE payroll systems has identified “significant risks of fraud” due to weaknesses in oversight and governance.

The HSE payroll system manages billions of euro annually, making it a high-risk environment.
Auditors found that:–

There is no comprehensive fraud risk assessment framework in place.
Roles and responsibilities for fraud prevention are not clearly defined.
Existing controls are often informal or inconsistently applied.

These gaps create conditions where fraudulent activity could occur without being promptly detected.

Governance and Accountability Under Pressure.
The findings point to broader governance challenges across public systems. In the case of social welfare, delays in data sharing, particularly around deaths or changes in eligibility, can lead to continued payments that are difficult to recover.
Within the HSE, the absence of structured risk management processes has raised concerns about accountability and oversight in one of the State’s largest financial operations.

Conclusion: Systemic Issues, Not Isolated Incidents
Taken together, the evidence suggests that these issues are not isolated but reflect systemic weaknesses in administrative processes and control systems.
While there is no indication of widespread organised fraud across either system, the combination of high transaction volumes, fragmented oversight, and delayed reporting creates an environment where errors, and potential abuses, can occur.

Strengthening data integration, improving real-time reporting, and implementing robust fraud risk frameworks are likely to be key priorities in addressing these vulnerabilities and protecting public funds going forward.

Ireland’s Child Care System Failing Vulnerable Children, Ombudsman Warns.

A major new report from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office has delivered a stark assessment of Ireland’s child care system, describing it as “broken” and failing to act in the best interests of vulnerable young people.

The report finds that, in some cases, children experience greater harm after entering State care. Serious concerns include instances of sexual grooming and assault, children going missing for days, and repeated moves between unregulated placements.

It also highlights situations where children have been held in secure care for extended periods, despite not committing any offences, due to a lack of suitable placements. In one case, two young siblings were placed in a facility with teenagers and a large staff presence because no foster home was available.

The Ombudsman, Dr Niall Muldoon, questioned how the State has reached a point where it cannot guarantee safe and stable care for highly vulnerable children.

The report identifies key systemic issues, including shortages of social workers, insufficient placement options, and ongoing difficulties in recruiting and retaining care staff. It also points to an increasing reliance on private providers and the growing use of unregulated accommodation.

Funding pressures remain a central concern. Despite a significant rise in child protection referrals over the past decade, the agency responsible, Tusla, is described as chronically under-resourced and receiving substantially less funding than required.

With nearly 6,000 children currently in care, the Ombudsman is calling for urgent reform. A forthcoming national consultation and the development of Ireland’s first National Alternative Care Plan are being framed as a critical opportunity to overhaul the system and better protect children’s rights.

FSAI Recall Batches Of Dunnes Stores Plain Tortilla Wraps.

Recall of specific batches of Dunnes Stores Plain Tortilla Wraps due to the possible presence of metal pieces.

Alert Summary dated Friday, 20th March 2026.

Category 1: For Action.
Alert Notification: 2026.11.
Product Identification: Dunnes Stores Plain Tortilla Wraps; pack size: 512g.
Batch Code Best before: 29/5/2026, 30/5/2026 and 31/5/2026.
Country Of Origin: Netherlands.

Message: Dunnes Stores is recalling the above batches of its Plain Tortilla Wraps due to the possible presence of metal pieces.

Recall notices will be displayed at point-of-sale.

Action Required: Retailers and Customers.
Retailers: Same are requested to remove the implicated batches from sale and display recall notices at point-of-sale.
Consumers: Consumers are advised not to eat the implicated batches.

Tipperary Home Energy Upgrades Still Worth It, Even If The Headlines Sound Confusing.

Homeowners across Co. Tipperary could be forgiven for feeling mixed messages about retrofitting right now.

A new ESRI review has sparked debate by highlighting that actual household energy use does not always match what BER ratings predict.
Put in simple terms, some highly efficient homes use more energy than expected, while many low-rated homes use less than the models suggest. The ESRI says this helps explain why average real-world consumption can look surprisingly similar across BER bands.

At first glance, that can make insulation, heating upgrades, or a heat pump seem like poor value. But that would be the wrong conclusion, especially in a county like Tipperary, where many homes are older, more rural, more exposed to weather, and more likely to depend on oil, solid fuel, or outdated heating systems. The same CSO data that raised eyebrows also shows that better-rated homes generally use less energy per square metre, which remains one of the fairest ways to compare homes of very different sizes. In 2023, A and B rated homes using electricity for heating consumed 39 kWh per square metre, compared with 66 for C-rated homes and 58 for F and G rated homes.

That matters in Tipperary because house size and dwelling type play a big role in energy demand. Detached houses use far more energy overall than mid-terrace homes simply because there is more space to heat. The CSO found detached homes had the highest mean electricity consumption in 2023, at 7,388 kWh, 77% higher than mid-terrace houses. For a county with a large stock of detached and one-off rural homes, that makes efficiency upgrades especially relevant.

There is another reason this matters locally. CSO figures published in 2025 showed that Tipperary had one of the highest proportions of G-rated homes in the country, at 10%. That suggests a significant number of households in the county are living in homes that are harder and more expensive to keep comfortable. In practice, many families in lower-rated homes are not “saving” energy in a meaningful sense. They may simply be under-heating rooms, avoiding turning the heat on, or living with draughts and cold spots, because the cost of comfort is too high. That is very different from saying an upgrade has no value.

This is the key point often lost in the national argument: retrofitting is not only about cutting a bill on paper. It is also about comfort, health, resilience, and future-proofing. A warmer, drier home is easier to live in. It is healthier for children and older people. It is less exposed to fossil fuel price shocks. And it is more attractive in the property market. The BER is not a perfect measure of human behaviour, but it is still a useful measure of the building itself: its insulation, airtightness, and heating potential.

For Tipperary homeowners, the smarter question is not “Are upgrades worth it at all?” but “Which upgrades make sense for my house, my budget, and my timeline?” A full deep retrofit may not be realistic for every household. Nationally, the government supported 53,984 home energy upgrades in 2024, and more than €1.2 billion has been invested in 186,000 homes since 2019. Low-cost retrofit loans are also now available to help with upfront funding. That means households can often take a phased approach: attic insulation first, then wall insulation, then heating controls, solar PV, or eventually a heat pump.

And heat pumps should not be dismissed. SEAI says they use less than a third of the energy of an oil or gas boiler and work well in cold climates, which is why they are so common in countries like Sweden and Norway. In Tipperary Town, the local Sustainable Energy Community is already backing projects involving solar upgrades, public housing retrofit, and an air-to-water heat pump for a sports centre redevelopment.

So yes, the headlines deserve scrutiny. BER ratings do not tell the whole story. But for many homeowners in Co. Tipperary, energy upgrades are still a sound investment. Not because every retrofit instantly transforms the numbers, but because a better home is about more than a spreadsheet. It is about comfort, control, and making older Tipperary houses fit for the future.