Vol. 435 No. 3
60 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment his views on whether the provisions of the Air Pollution Act, 1987, are being administered to the satisfaction of his Department in relation to nitrogen dioxide emissions in urban local authority areas; and if he will request an urgent report from the Environmental Protection Agency on the monitoring of nitrogen dioxide emissions in Irish cities especially Dublin.
Wexford): The Air Pollution Act, 1987, (Air Quality Standards) Regulations, 1987, specify air quality standards for the most widespread pollutants including nitrogen dioxide (NO²). Section 54 (5) of the Act requires a local authority to make such arrangements for monitoring as may be necessary so that it can determine if an air quality standard is being complied with.
In order to ensure an adequate monitoring programme in support of the specified air quality standards, a formal direction was issued to local authorities from my Department in October 1987 requiring monitoring of the specified pollutants by a number of local authorities. A network of monitoring sites for NO 2 has been established covering key urban and major industrial sources; the results of monitoring show compliance with the specified standards. The recent imposition of significantly lower limit values for exhaust gases from motor vehicles, which are a primary source of NO 2 emissions in urban areas, considerably improves the overall control regime on this pollutant.
