Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
183. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the up-to-date position on the ban on smoky coal sales; the steps that retailers are expected to take with stock that remains unsold by the ban date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50977/22]
View answerThe new solid fuel regulations will come into force on 31 October this year and will introduce minimum quality standards that will apply to all solid fuels distributed throughout the State. This will ensure that the most polluting can no longer be made available on the Irish market and will assist the public in transitioning to less polluting alternatives. New regulations on the use of solid fuels for domestic heating are necessary as each year some 1,300 people die prematurely in Ireland from illnesses which are caused or exacerbated by air pollution from solid fuel burning. It is further estimated that there are over 16,200 life years lost, while many people also experience a poor quality of life due to the associated short-term and long-term health impacts of this form of pollution. I remain committed to addressing this critical public health and environmental challenge.
In September 2021, I announced that the regulations would come into effect for the 2022/2023 heating season. I made the announcement at that time in order to allow retailers sufficient time to run down existing stocks and plan accordingly for the introduction of the new regulatory framework.
Over the past year, officials from my Department have been working with retailer representative bodies to support the transition to the new regulations and have been running an awareness campaign for the past number of months to inform retailers and producers of their responsibilities. More information for retailers can be found at www.gov.ie/cleanair/.
Enforcement actions will be a matter for Local Authorities and once the regulations are introduced. Initial enforcement efforts will focus on working with and helping retailers in understanding and complying with their obligations under the new framework.
