PRTR Protocol

A Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) is a national or regional environmental database or inventory of potentially hazardous chemical substances and/or pollutants released to air, water and soil, and transferred off-site for treatment or disposal. The main objective of the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers is to enhance public access to information through the establishment of coherent, integrated PRTRs, in order to facilitate public participation in environmental decision making and contribute to the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution.

Ireland signed the Protocol on PRTRs in 2003. This Protocol is an international instrument committing the participating countries to establish and maintain publicly accessible registers that contain information on a wide range of pollutants from certain environmentally significant activities.

Legislative and other measures have been put in place to ensure that Ireland’s obligations under the Protocol are fulfilled. The key objective of the Protocol is the establishment of a national PRTR to meet specific requirements under the Protocol.

The Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Regulations 2011 (SI 649 of 2011) designate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Competent Authority for the purposes of the PRTR Protocol. In October 2011, the EPA established Ireland's PRTR, which contains information about emissions from more than 300 industrial facilities across the State and enables members of the public to find out about the major sources of polluting emissions in their immediate environs.

See the latest PRTR report here.