Vol. 546 No. 1
7 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his plans to introduce legislation to deal with the problem of house and car alarms which cause disturbance in neighbourhoods; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31086/01]
I understand that faulty alarms gave rise to 11% of the noise complaints made to Dublin Corporation in 2000, the third lowest of all categories of complaint listed. Nevertheless, I recognise that alarms are a source of neighbourhood noise. A number of arrangements are in place to reduce the incidence of unnecessary noise from alarms and to tackle persistent incidence of such noise.
The National Standards Authority of Ireland has published a voluntary standard specification, I.S. 199 of 1987, and operates a certification scheme to that standard, which, inter alia, specifies a minimum 15 minutes and maximum 30 minutes duration for the sounding of external alarms in buildings, with the alarm being required to cease automatically after the maximum duration. The connection of monitored business intruder alarm systems to Garda stations is contingent, inter alia, upon the use of alarm systems which are certified by NSAI and installed by certified installers.
A European standard for external intruder alarms, which will replace all current national standards, is in development and will incorporate considerably stricter controls regarding minimum and maximum duration for the sounding of alarms. The new limits are 90 seconds minimum and 15 minutes maximum and will be the only standard applicable once all elements of the new European standard are finalised.
I understand that the promulgation of the Irish standard, the development of the European standard, the requirements of the Garda for monitored alarms, improved equipment, and the co-operation of installers certified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland have, together, been instrumental in ensuring that the incidence of false alarms and the failure of audible alarms to cut off have been very significantly reduced. No standards have been set for the operation of car alarms.
Additional Information.Under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 (Noise) Regulations, 1994, a local authority or any person may seek an order in the District Court to have noise giving reasonable cause for annoyance abated. The procedures involved have been simplified to allow action to be taken without legal representation. A public information leaflet outlining the legal avenues available to persons experiencing noise nuisance is available from my Department.
In light of the above, I have no proposals to introduce further legislation in respect of noise arising from house or car alarm systems.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply which was far more comprehensive than the reply by the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, to my last question. When is it expected that legislation will be introduced here so that there can be proper monitoring of alarms? Will the Minister of State agree this has become a serious issue partic ularly in the city where people are continually disturbed not only be house alarms but also by car alarms? Does he agree that part of the problem is that certain cowboy companies have been installing alarms, and that we have not, to date, properly monitored the problem?
Perhaps I will finish the reply.
Under the environmental Protection agency Act, 1992 (Noise) Regulations, 1994, a local authority or any person may seek an order in the District Court to have noise giving reasonable cause for annoyance abated. The procedures involved have been simplified to allow action to be taken without legal representation. A public information leaflet outlining the legal avenues available to persons experiencing noise nuisance is available from my Department.
In light of the above, I have no proposals to introduce further legislation in respect of noise arising from house or car alarm systems.
Has the Minister of State any idea when a European standard will be in place?
I cannot indicate when the EU standard will be in place. Most neighbourhood complaints relate to domestic noice such as loud music, late parties, animals, DIY businesses, not house or car alarms. Dublin Corporation logged 381 noise complaints in 2000 of which 41 or 11%, arose from intruder alarms. This is less than half the level of complaints about the domestic sector which represent 23% of total complaints. The standards authority of Ireland specifies a maximum alarm duration of 30 minutes as stated in my reply. The new European standard reduces the limit to a maximum of 15 minutes.
In his reply, the Minister of State said the duration for the sounding of alarms would be reduced from a maximum of 30 minutes to 15 minutes. That is not my experience. How is it intended to monitor and regulate the position given that house and car alarms can sound indefinitely?
Will the Minister of State accept that the reason there is such a low level of reportage of noise from alarms is that people recognise there is no point in reporting it as there are no regulations governing this area? Will he introduce statutory regulations which would govern alarms and other noise?
Once the European standard is put in place, we will be governed by it. No standards have been set for car alarms but all manufacturers demand high specification alarms for installation in the models they produce which generally operate satisfactorily and do not go off unless there is some interference or fault. When the European standard is put in place there should be an improvement in the position.
Has the Minister of State any idea when the European standard—
