Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 24 Oct 2001

Vol. 542 No. 6

Written Answers. - Smokeless Fuels.

John Gormley

Ceist:

245 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason Bray, County Wicklow, has no regulations in place regarding the mandatory use of smokeless fuel; the further reason such restrictions were introduced by Minister of State Dan Wallace in relation to Arklow in 1998; if he will consider implementing an immediate ban on such fuels in Bray. [25451/01]

Billy Timmins

Ceist:

249 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the position regarding the use of smokeless fuels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25663/01]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 245 and 249 together.

In accordance with the Government commitment in "An Action Programme for the Millennium", the existing ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous coal in Dublin and Cork was extended to Arklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Limerick and Wexford in 1998 and to Celbridge, Galway, Leixlip, Naas and Waterford in 2000. These areas were chosen on a precautionary basis following annual reviews of national air quality monitoring results. All areas have shown a significant improvement in terms of recorded smoke levels since the bans were introduced. The reviews preceding the ban extensions indicated relatively low smoke levels in Bray; in compari son, smoke levels in Arklow before the ban were twice as high as those in Bray.

However, I am now of the view that it is timely to consider moving from area specific bans to extending the ban nationally given the potential for lower acidifying emissions and benefits for public health and air quality. Last week I launched a consultation paper on possible national bans on bituminous coal and petcoke. A copy is available in the Oireachtas Library. I have no proposals to extend the ban to any specific area before the completion of the consultation process.