Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Apr 1992

Vol. 132 No. 1

Adjournment Matter. - Bray (County Wicklow) Pollution Problem.

Mr. Ross

I welcome the Minister to the House. I have long been on record as being an admirer of the Minister. I welcome her particularly on this issue which is one of the great success stories of the Government.

I am seeking an extension of the coal ban to Bray because it has been so successful in Dublin. It was very courageous on the part of the Minister and the Government to take the very dramatic and even traumatic step in 1990 to ban bituminous coal in the Dublin area. It was an experiment because the Minister did not know exactly what the effects would be, how difficult it would be for people on low incomes and whether it would work. I am sure the Minister will acknowledge that it has been a tremendous success and that she has achieved her objective of clear air in the Dublin area.

We should now consider extending this ban to areas outside Dublin which are affected by smog and smoke. The boundaries of the area covered by the coal ban are Dún Laoghaire on the south side, Lucan to the west and Malahide to the north. The Minister stated in an interview in 1990 with The Irish Times that the restriction area could be extended, if required, to improve air quality further and suggested that the Bray area could be included the following year — 1991 — depending on smoke levels. Perhaps the Minister would indicate what the smoke levels are in Bray or if they have been measured yet. My belief is that they have not.

I hope, as a result of this debate, the Minister will respond by saying it is now intended to monitor smoke levels in Bray, Greystones and perhaps other areas of Wicklow in the near future. At the moment we can only depend on visual observation in Bray. The bituminous coal ban extends to the outskirts of the town but north Bray, the area you enter when coming from the smoke-free zone, is the worst area of the town. I spent last Saturday in Little Bray which lies in a valley. The density of the smoke in that area was suffocating. I do not know the level of that smoke, but I have no doubt that last Saturday it was well above EC levels. Anybody who was sick, who suffered from asthma or had breathing difficulties would have begun to choke in that atmosphere. It was undoubtedly damaging, and a danger to the health of the individuals involved.

I do not think this happens every week or every day but it happens with a frequency which is intolerable. It is obviously as bad as, if not worse than, the problem was in Dublin when the Minister decided to tackle it. I have photographs of the Little Bray area, in the Old Court estates and around Herbert Road, on the other side of the Dargle. These demonstrate that there is an incontrovertible case for making Bray a smoke free zone. Even if the monitoring has not been done, you have only to look at these photographs to know there is a danger to the health of people in that area who suffer from breathing diseases. In the 1990-91 winter it reached almost crisis proportions. It appears not to have been quite so bad last winter but that is probably because it was not such a cold winter.

I ask the Minister to put some monitoring stations into the Bray area as soon as possible in order to ascertain, as a matter of urgency, what the smoke levels are. Now that the worst period is over it may well be inappropriate to put up monitoring stations until next winter. The least we can expect, however, given the visual smog is that we should have monitoring tests taken in that area quickly. A group of people associated with St. Gerard's school in Bray took private tests of the smoke levels in Bray and although the results are not official I am assured that they showed frequent breaches of the EC limits. It might be appropriate for the Minister to seek the results of those tests. By contacting St. Gerard's school to find out what the results were she could save her Department a great deal of work.

I do not know exactly where the smoke is coming from but it is not purely only from domestic burning of bituminous coal. One of the unfortunate features of Bray is of planning gone wild. Factories which cause pollution are situated in the middle of residential areas, particularly the lithographic factory on the banks of the Dargle which spews out the most appalling pollution and smoke at irregular intervals into a residential area. It makes the lives of the people in the Dargle valley almost impossible. I recently visited the people who live next to the factory. They cannot sell their houses; often they cannot go out into their back gardens; they cannot live a normal life. These people are living in what should be an amenity area, one of the jewels of County Wicklow, yet a factory there is polluting the atmosphere. That should be looked at in the context of planning rather than imposing a smoke ban. We should cease erecting factories which pollute the atmosphere in residential areas. I do not know if that is happening elsewhere or with great frequency in Dublin, but if we continue this practice we will add to the smog problem in residential areas. I have asked the Minister to look at this when she is considering extending this coal ban to Bray.

As Bray is on the perimeter of the smoke free zone, it must be the next area into which the Minister will consider extending the zone. The Minister rightly mentioned in her interview with The Irish Times, and probably elsewhere, that the Bray area would have to be looked at as the next object of this ban, which is encouraging.

I would ask the Minister to give a commitment this evening that, at the very least she will order the monitoring of the smog in the Bray area as soon as possible and if it is above EC limits that Bray will be declared a smoke free zone.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Miss Harney)

I would like to begin by thanking Senator Ross for his compliments and for raising this issue in the House tonight.

I share the Senator's concern that the residents of Bray, and the residents of any other area, should not have to endure polluted air. Obviously, it would be my intention anywhere the public have to live in polluted air conditions to bring in and support through Government action any measure necessary to alleviate that situation.

When I came to office at the Department of the Environment almost three years ago we had an enormous smog problem in Dublin. Smoke pollution was being caused, essentially, by the burning of bituminous coal and it seemed obvious to me that the thing to do was to get bituminous coal out of the system. It was difficult. There were many teething problems despite the success and I would like to thank Senator Ross for complimenting me on the success of the coal ban in Dublin. There have also been many operational problems with regard to the supply of alternative fuels and difficulties of that kind. The ban has proved that taking coal out of the system was successful and it is ultimately the greatest weapon we can use to ensure that the community and residents generally are not exposed to unacceptable levels of air pollution from smoke.

In relation to Bray, my view is no different from what it would be for anywhere else. If there is a significant air pollution problem in Bray I would have no problem doing in Bray what I did elsewhere, but there are a number of difficulties, of course. Bray was considered when we were imposing the ban in Dublin. I did consider extending the ban to Bray and Leixlip and some of the towns in Wicklow and Kildare, but there were enormous difficulties involved. First, we felt it might not be operationally feasible; second, obviously, it would be more expensive. In any one year an extension of the ban would probably cost an extra £250,000 in terms of subsidies because we give £3 a week to approximately one in three families in Dublin. These would be very low income families or on social welfare; this costs just under £6 million a year. To extend the ban to Bray and Leixlip which would be the two more obvious areas, would cost a further £250,000, approximately, per annum. We could not do that until we identified the precise smoke levels in Bray. I am sure the Senator as a member of Wicklow County Council, is aware that from next winter the county council intend to place two monitors in the Bray area for continuous monitoring of the atmospheric pollution. When we have those monitoring results we can make whatever decision is necessary if there is a problem or if we are in breach of European Community air quality standards.

In the meantime, the example that has been followed in Cork could be put in place in Bray. This winter — which is almost over — the fuel trade in Cork, on a voluntry basis, came together and decided to supply a low cost competitively priced product in order to alleviate the smog that was developing there. It has been extremely successful. It has proved to me that not everything has to be done by regulation and Government order. Many very fine things, particularly as far as the environment is concerned, can happen through voluntary agreement and voluntary effort. Perhaps even in advance of next winter we could have some discussions with the fuel trade that supply the Bray area with a view to taking some measures to alleviate the problem. Of course, the key would be to have the trade supply products that are competitively priced and are good substitutes for bituminous coal.

I was interested to hear Senator Ross mention Little Bray and say he was there last Saturday because about two years ago, St. Gerard's school under the supervision and guidance of an environmental consultant carried out an air quality survey of Little Bray, monitoring the smog level. I understand from the school that not even on one day did the level exceed the European Community requirement. As the Senator is probably aware, the European Community requirement is that if you reach over 250 micrograms of smoke per cubic metre of air per 24 hours — or something in that order — for four days, on the fourth day you are in breach of the European Community Directive. I understand that no such levels occurred in Little Bray even for one day. That is interesting in the light of the Senator's experience.

I have found, as a result of the coal ban in Dublin and all the attention it has received, that many people have a perception that there is smoke in the air when there may not be. I do not say that lightly or sarcastically. On a number of occasions last winter and the previous winter I wondered if the levels were high. When I got the monitoring results the next morning I discovered they were not. Sometimes, because of all the attention to and the public awareness of smoke pollution, we are more perceptive, look more closely and are more sensitive to smoke.

I want to assure Senator Ross that when I see the results of the continuous monitoring that Wicklow County Council will put in place next winter, in conjunction with the urban district council, I will not be slow to act or to propose to the Government the kind of measures I believe to be necessary. It may well be necessary to take the same decision we have taken in Dublin. However, we have only had two winter experiences in Dublin and we still have difficulties. I want to acknowledge that. Improvements have to be made again for next winter.

Senator Ross referred to the development of industrial premises close to residential areas. Obviously that is a matter for the local planning authority. I too would share his concern if such developments added to smoke pollution in the atmosphere close to built-up residential areas. Anybody emitting substances into the air would require an air pollution licence and presumably strict conditions could be attached to ensure that it did not contribute to adverse smoke levels in the area. It is not for me to interfere. I believe in the principle of subsidiarity, and it is for local authorities to decide how to plan their areas. I would, however, take a view, as a matter of general principle, that industrial premises of that kind as far as possible should not be located close to residential areas.

When I introduced the regulations to ban the sale, distribution and marketing of bituminous coal in Dublin we also made a provision that any new housing developments in the Dublin area had to have, as well as an open fire, an alternative heating system. Although a directive was not given to local authorities to bear this in mind in giving planning permissions, I will look at that matter to see if, in relation to new developments in the general Bray area, we could apply a condition of that kind. It would ensure that we did not add to the problem.

In Dublin we have had a smoke problem since 1980. Throughout the decade, we gave grants to put in fireplaces to burn more coal and we allowed new developments with open fireplaces to burn bituminous coal. That was obviously a mistake. In urban centres like Bray, any new housing development should have an alternative heating system.

I want to thank Senator Ross for raising this issue and to assure him that I and my officials will keep in touch with Wicklow County Council. I will have the monitoring results supplied to me weekly when it begins next winter and if it is necessary to take the kind of steps he suggested, as we have done in Dublin, I will not be reluctant to do that if the resources are made avilable and if the Government agree. In the meantime, perhaps Senator Ross and his colleagues could initiate some discussions with the fuel trade in Bray similar to those in Cork which proved extremely successful. However, that does require a supportive and friendly fuel trade. If you do not have that you will not get agreement. There are many reasonable people in the fuel trade who realise that coal will not be used for domestic heating much longer. I believe that in a few years bituminous coal will no longer be burnt in any house in an urban area. Alternative heating systems will be the norm, perhaps even as soon as the end of this decade. Most people in the fuel trade realise that. For that reason many of them are putting great effort into developing and sourcing alternatives to bituminous coal and they may be only too happy to be involved in any campaign on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Ross

I thank the Minister for her reply and, in particular, the way she turned the tables on me by suggesting that I tackle the problem myself by initiating discussions with the fuel trade in Bray. That is a new departure in Adjournment matters and I shall certainly do so. In return, I would ask for a commitment that, if the monitoring levels taken in Bray next winter are consistently above EC levels, she will then extend the smokeless zone area to Bray itself.

Miss Harney

Yes, I can give a commitment that I would support such an extension. Obviously, it would have to be subject to Government approval because additional funding would be required to pay the subsidy to low income families. It would certainly be my intention to do so if the levels exceed the EC standards. I would only be too happy to do in Bray what was done in Dublin.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 2 April 1992.