The majority of officially designated swimming sites in Ireland have excellent or good quality, according to the latest Bathing Water Quality Report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It found that 144 out of 148 bathing waters met or exceeded the minimum required standard, with 117 of them classified as excellent or good.
The EPA said the ongoing improvement shows good management of bathing waters can give a high level of health protection for swimmers and other water users.
The official bathing season in Ireland starts on 1 June and runs until 15 September.
In advance of that, the EPA has reassured swimmers that in the vast majority of cases the water quality is safe.
148 bathing sites officially designated by local authorities are monitored on an ongoing basis.
This year, 97% of them met or exceeded the minimum standards, including the 79% that were deemed excellent.
Two locations - the Brook Beach at Portrane, in Fingal North, Co Dublin, and Trá na bhForbacha in Galway - have shown significant improvement, up from poor to excellent in a very short number of years.
Three out of the 148 were deemed poor this year and so will have a swimming restriction for the 2023 season.
These were Front Strand Beach at Balbriggan in Dublin, Lady's Bay at Buncrana in Co Donegal, and Trá na mBan, at An Spidéal in Co Galway.
Read the report in full here.
Urban wastewater incidents, agricultural run-off, fouling from dogs and algal blooms were the factors that impacted negatively on beaches last year.
Heavy rainfall can lead to run-off from agricultural lands, urban areas, and from wastewater overflows, all of which can impact on bathing water quality temporarily.
The EPA said Uisce Éireann needs to continue to improve the operation, management and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants and networks which impact on bathing waters.
Wastewater upgrades are planned or in progress to improve water quality at the three bathing waters designated as poor.
The EPA said that local authorities also need to prioritise measures to improve the three "poor" bathing waters, and to increase the number of bathing waters deemed good or excellent.
It has also called on the public to play their part in maintaining and improving bathing water quality by bringing home rubbish, cleaning up after dogs, and reporting pollution on the See It! Say It! Smartphone App.
Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA, has said their latest report on the quality of bathing waters is "really good news" coming into summer.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she she described how fortunate Ireland is to have such good levels of water coming into a season, when more people will be swimming and spending time at beaches.
Dr Cotter said to achieve excellent status it means the "water is as clean as it could possibly be" and the likelihood of getting sick from swimming there is very low.
