John Gormley
Question:119 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans he has to improve air quality here and to comply with all EU directives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5127/01]
Written Answers. - Air Quality.
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently published Air Quality Monitoring Annual Report, 1999 shows that Ireland's air quality is generally good. All limit values for ambient levels of air pollutants in EU directives were complied with, apart from the 98 percentile of mean hourly values for the calendar year for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at College Green, Dublin (211 g/m3 compared with the limit value of 200 g/m3), reflecting the heavy impact of city traffic at this site.
It is recognised that new EU limit values for particulate matter (to be met from 2005) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) (to be met from 2010) will be challenging to meet, particularly in urban areas with heavy traffic. Recent measures designed to improve air quality include the extension of the ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous coal to five additional urban areas (October 2000), the introduction of new fuel standards for petrol and diesel (January and March 2000), improved emission standards for new vehicles (January 2001), the introduction of the national car test (January 2000), the promotion of European car free day (September 2000) and significant investment in transport infrastructure.
I also recently enforced regulations setting a statutory limit on the sulphur content of heavy fuel oil for the first time, and further strengthening controls on the sulphur content of gas oil which will significantly reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2) from 1 January 2003. The national climate change strategy also contains a number of cross-cutting measures which will further facilitate a reduction in SO2 and NOx emissions. Further measures to reduce emissions of SO2, NOx, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia will be included in a national emissions reduction strategy which my Department is currently developing.
Other measures to be introduced this year include the mandatory display of information on the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of new passenger cars, and regulations limiting the emissions of volatile organic compounds from the use of organic solvents. Any additional measures that may be required to comply with new EU air quality standards over time will be considered in the light of the EPA's preliminary assessment of national air quality. It is expected that this assessment will be finalised shortly.