IRELAND must reconsider water charges and place higher taxes on petrol and diesel cars in order to meet environmental and climate targets.

The actions are among 43 recommendations made in an OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) review of the country’s environmental performance over the last ten years.

The review says Ireland’s progress has been “uneven” over the decade, the main problem being that environmental pressures increased as the economy grew.

While Covid has eased the impact somewhat, the report warns: “Swift action is needed to steer the recovery towards the green transformation and avoid a rebound of environmental pressures.”

A decline in water quality in rivers and lakes - the source of most drinking water – was notable over the decade linked to that is the slow pace of upgrades to wastewater treatment infrastructure.

Establishing Irish Water was considered a good move as it unified the piecemeal approach to water services and allowed clear analysis of where investment was needed.

But the report says the source of the required investment needs examination.

It recommends the Government “assess whether the funding model for water services is sufficient to cover the high investment costs and whether introducing household water charges would be appropriate”.

Metered water charges as part of Ireland’s bailout programme were abandoned by the Government in 2016 after sustained protests.

The report also warns that the country’s habits are unsustainable, with three-quarters of all journeys completed by private car.

It says that despite some of the most generous supports for electric vehicle purchase in the world, the uptake has been slow.

Key to encouraging the switch to electric is reducing the price difference between conventional petrol and diesel models and electric alternatives.

The report stops short of saying how Ireland should do this but points to Norway as an example, detailing how that country applies heavy taxes to conventional cars based on their weight, engine power and emissions while generously exempting EVs from other taxes.

It also says tax on diesel must rise to match that of petrol and it urges consideration of road user taxes, low emission zones and the end to free parking for employees at workplaces.

Climate Action Minister Eamon Ryan acknowledged that a parking levy for public sector workers had been promised for many years.

He said working and commuting patterns were expected to change for good because of Covid.

“There will be changes in the way we work, including car parking,” he said.

The report noted that 25pc of public funding in the National Development Plan and and 50pc of the funding in the Covid recovery plan was for green investments, including renewable energy and active transport.

But it said the private sector needed to do more, and to be encouraged through greater State investment in research and development.

Ireland’s investment in such eco-innovation was the fifth lowest of the 37 OECD countries.

Mr Ryan said he would bring that finding and recommendation to Higher Education Minister Simon Harris and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.

On agriculture, the report says Ireland should set a target for methane emissions – something the Government has shied away from – and that it should “ensure consistency between agriculture production and climate mitigation objectives”.

The Minister said: “The key to solving this problem on the agricultural side is seeing the farmers as being central to the solution.”

He said just transition would guide the approach and that meant “everyone matters and every place matters”.