Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2021
168. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of prosecutions that have been issued for breaching the smoky coal ban from 2015 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53377/21]
View answerEnforcement action against breaches of the Air Pollution Act (Marketing, Sale, Distribution and Burning of Specified Fuels) Regulations 2012 is a matter for Local Authorities and my Department does not compile statistics in relation to prosecutions taken or fines imposed. Local Authorities do report information to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) annually regarding enforcement activities under environmental legislation. The following table outlines the number of prosecutions for breaches of the smoky coal ban from 2015 to 2019 as provided by the EPA:
|
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
|
Prosecutions initiated under the Solid Fuel Regulations (S.I. 326 of 2012) |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Data from 2020 is being collated and final results are not yet available. Further details with respect to how effectively Local Authorities are enforcing the provisions of environmental legislation, including the Air Pollution Act, are available from the series of Local Authority Environmental Performance Assessment reports compiled by the EPA. These reports can be accessed at: www.epa.ie/enforcement/pa/performanceframework/.
