Damnig report on state of the environment

Ireland's biodiversity is at risk and the outlook for the environment is "not optimistic", according to a new report.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the existing national measures haven't been successful in tackling a number of environmental issues. This report   stretching to almost 500 pages, is a damning assessment of the current state of the environment. We haven't met our targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air quality in some urban areas doesn't meet global standards and 85 per cent of EU-listed habitats are in an unfavourable condition. The report says we need to massively reduce the one million tonnes of food waste every year, invest in essential water services infrastructure and designate more marine areas as protected areas The Environment Minister says he's ashamed by the report and that an all-island plan will be developed to tackle some of the issues raised.