Vol. 560 No. 3
432 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the extent to which monitoring takes place in regard to the measurement of air pollution throughout the country and in County Kildare; if his attention has been drawn to particular results which should be brought to the attention of Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2710/03]
Details of all air quality monitoring stations, including those in County Kildare operated by local authorities and the EPA, are contained in the agency's Air Quality Monitoring Annual Report 2000, a copy of which is in the Oireachtas Library. Monitoring of air pollution is also undertaken as a condition of some integrated pollution control licences issued by the agency. Information on all aspects of IPC licences is available from the EPA.
The attention of Dáil Éireann has previously been drawn to aspects of air quality in County Kildare, most recently in the replies to Questions No. 177 of 13 February 2002 and No. 150 of 28 February 2002. Anomalous summer time peak levels of sulphur dioxide at the Leixlip monitoring station were highlighted in the agency's Air Quality Monitoring Annual Report 1999 – a copy of which is available in the Library – and addressed further in the Air Quality Monitoring Annual Report 2000. This latter report stated that while recorded sulphur dioxide levels were relatively high during 2000-01 no summertime peak was observed. Additional agency direct measurements at the Leixlip site have also confirmed that there was no further recurrence of the summertime peak in 2002.
While the agency's report shows that national air quality is generally good and all current EU and national air quality standards are being met, future limit values for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides will be challenging in urban areas with heavy traffic.
