Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 February 2019
476. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when new air quality monitoring will be rolled out in Dublin city; the type of gasses, pollutants and so on that will be measured (details supplied); the number of stations that will be provided; if real time information will be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9122/19]
View answerAmbient air quality monitoring in Ireland is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the 2008 Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Directive (Directive 2008/50/EC) and the Fourth Daughter Directive (Directive 2004/107/EC of 15 December 2004). These Directives include rules on how Member States should monitor, assess and manage ambient air quality. Under the Directives, EU Member States must designate "zones" for the purpose of managing air quality. For Ireland, four zones were defined in the Air Quality Standards Regulations, 2011. The zones in place in Ireland in 2017 are Zone A: the Dublin conurbation; Zone B: the Cork conurbation; Zone C: comprising 23 large towns in Ireland with a population of more than 15,000; and Zone D: the remaining area of Ireland. Ireland established a nationwide network of monitoring stations which measure levels of air pollutants in the four zones. This information is delivered to the public in near real-time at www.airquality.ie The criteria for the location of monitoring equipment for each pollutant are set out in the Directives.
Following a review by the Environmental Protection Agency of air quality monitoring and information provision in Ireland, a decision was taken to develop a new National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (AAMP) which aims to enhance and build on current arrangements. The AAMP will more than double the capacity of ambient air quality monitoring in Ireland by 2022, and enhance the provision of real time air quality data to the public. My Department has committed funding of some €5 million over the lifetime of the programme.
Of the 39 additional stations planned as part of the AAMP, 12 were completed by the end of 2018, including 2 stations in Dublin in Saint Anne’s Park and Saint John’s Road. In addition to this, existing stations as outlined below were upgraded to provide real-time PM10 and PM2.5 information.
- Dublin – Ballyfermot
- Dublin – Davitt Road
- Dublin – Finglas
- Dublin – Marino
- Dublin – Phoenix Park
- Dublin – Ringsend
- Cork – Heatherton Park
- Castlebar
- Kilkenny
Further additional stations and station upgrades are planned for 2019 and 2020, a number of which will be in the greater Dublin area, including a new monitoring station on Pearse Street. One of the key objectives of the AAMP is to enhance the provision of real time air quality data to the public and the precise locations of these additional stations will therefore be determined operationally.
Further details on the monitoring programme can be found at the following website:
http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/air/quality/epanationalambientprogramme.html.
