Vol. 491 No. 7
175 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the regulations, if any, in relation to the control of dust in a situation where an individual is operating a furniture business in the open air, in an urban area where old furniture is being sanded down and the resulting dust is causing a health hazard for neighbouring premises. [13208/98]
Under the Air Pollution Act, 1987, the occupier of any premises, other than a private dwelling is required to use the best practicable means to limit and, if possible, to prevent, an emission of, inter alia, dust from such premises. In addition, the occupier of any premises is prohibited from causing or permitting emissions in such a quantity or manner as to be a nuisance. The Act also empowers a local authority to serve a notice on the occupier of any premises from which there is an emission specifying the measures necessary to prevent or limit air pollution.
In addition, it is open to any person to apply to the courts for remedies for unauthorised emissions, and the Act, as amended by the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992, includes a civil liability provision under which damages may be recovered where unauthorised emissions cause injury, loss or damage to a person or their property, in prescribed circumstances.
