I welcome the opportunity to underline the fact that air quality in Ireland is generally good. However, I also recognise that improvements can be made and are desirable in respect of certain areas and certain pollutants. Constant vigilance is required to protect and, where necessary, improve our air quality.
Awareness of atmospheric pollution first developed from recognition of the local effects of winter smog on human health, usually in urban or heavily urbanised areas. The acute nature of this problem in other countries has meant that effective action had to be taken many years ago. For example, the Clean Air Act in the UK came into force more than 40 years ago. Then came an appreciation of regional influences on air quality and of the transboundary environmental damage caused by acid rain due to man-made emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Awareness has also developed of photochemical pollution related to high growth in road traffic. Ireland now has a national network for monitoring ground level ozone and a public alert system in place should levels warrant it.
More recently, the importance of global impacts have been recognised and, at this scale, the adverse impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, are now causing widespread concern. Indeed, at Kyoto last December, the developed world at last agreed to binding reductions on greenhouse emissions of over 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. The EU legally binding target for this global effort, to which Ireland will contribute, will be the achievement of an overall reduction of 8 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in this period.
We are also likely to face increased international obligations in the future arising from the negotiations at EU and UN levels on reduced ceilings of emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Ceilings on emissions to the atmosphere of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants are also being developed under the aegis of the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
We are committed to meeting our obligations at international level to assist in the task of combating global climate change and the impacts of transboundary atmospheric pollution. We are equally concerned to maintain and improve our air quality at national and local level. We must, therefore, target appropriate policy and actions at the different levels and quality issues. That is why the commitment to extending the ban on bituminous coal to major urban areas is part of our programme for Government.
Good air quality is essential to human health and well being. Air quality and emissions to air also influence the quality of both the natural and the built environment. Air quality standards which are intended to protect public health have been set both nationally and at EU level on the basis of research and analysis undertaken by the World Health Organisation.
These standards are set by reference to both the longer term impacts and the impacts of shorter, more acute incidents of severe pollution. The limit values for smoke are expressed in a number of ways, the most relevant for assessing urban quality being the winter median daily of mean values, set at 130 microgrammes per cubic metre, and the 98-percentile of daily mean values, set at 250 microgrammes per cubic metre. The 98-percentile limit allows only a total of seven values exceeding the 250 microgrammes per cubic metre limit in a full year and there is a further requirement that more than three such values on consecutive days would also mean a breach of the limit. There are guidelines set by the EU also, intended for the further protection of human health and the environment. These are set at 40 to 60 microgrammes per cubic metre in respect of the annual mean, and 100 to 150 microgrammes per cubic metre in respect of the maximum daily mean.
The Government is conscious of these standards in health and environmental terms. Excessive levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere can create conditions which are extremely uncomfortable and unhealthy. International experience and independent Irish research have shown that they are associated with increased hospital admissions, increased morbidity and a peak in mortality. Acute effects may include immediate irritations to the eyes and throat or hospitalisation, or even deaths from respiratory failure or heart attacks. Chronic effects may include decreased pulmonary function, and there are specific high risk groups, such as the elderly, people with asthma and people with diseases of the lungs. Research has identified a clear link between lung and respiratory related hospital admissions and peaks in poor urban air quality.
Environmental effects include the blackening of stonework in our cities by smoke in the atmosphere, and the attack on that stonework by the associated acidification of rainfall by sulphur dioxide. We have spent substantial sums of money on cleaning and repairing the damage to buildings caused by smoke in the past and we need to be vigilant to ensure that the damage is not repeated.
Air quality in Dublin was a major problem in the past. For example, smoke levels were as high as 1,800 microgrammes per cubic metre on occasions, over seven times in excess of the EU limit value of 250 microgrammes per cubic metre. These levels were reached during particularly adverse climate conditions. During inversions, including when the weather is particularly cold and still, smoke cannot rise high into the atmosphere and is not dispersed by the wind; pollutants sit where they are emitted. These are the kind of conditions in which excessive smoke can impact on health and on the fabric of urban areas.
The prevalence of smoke and its impact on air quality is monitored by local authorities. There is an extensive network of smoke monitors in urban areas. Apart from Dublin and Cork, there are 16 other towns and cities, including most major population centres, where the levels of smoke in the atmosphere are monitored. In Limerick, the corporations has monitors in Southill, Moyross and at Todds. The county council has a further monitor in the urban area, situated at Ballykeeffe on the Dooradoyle side of the city. Monitoring results from all local authorities are received in my Department and are also sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. The agency analyses the data on a regular basis and publishes the results.
The "State of the Environment Report", published by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1996, concludes:
Overall, air pollution associated with. smoke emissions from stationary combustion sources has been almost eliminated in Ireland. There is now widespread compliance with national air quality standards and EU limit values.
With regard to Dublin, the report notes:
For the first time in ten years, there was no exceedance of any Directive smoke limit value in 1990/1991 and there were none for any reference period in the three subsequent years.
The report also noted that there was a 70 per cent decrease in smoke concentrations overall in Dublin in terms of the 98-percentile and the winter median value.
A further report by the Environmental Protection Agency, entitled the "Air Quality Monitoring Annual Report 1996", published in December 1997, confirms this trend and notes:
. concentrations of smoke . were very low during the 1996/1997 annual period at all monitoring sites and were very much in compliance with current Irish air quality standards.
With regard to Cork, the 1996 report shows the heartening result that the smoke levels in the city have come down significantly since the introduction of the bituminous coal ban in 1995.
The smog problem in Dublin was successfully overcome by banning the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous coal in the city from the start of the heating season in October 1990. A dramatic and immediate improvement was experienced over the following winters. In the four years after 1990-1, the 98-percentile smoke value averaged 77 microgrammes per cubic metre compared with 256 microgrammes per cubic metre in the four years prior to this. The corresponding levels for the 1996-7 period was 41 microgrammes per cubic metre.
The successful approach in Dublin was repeated in Cork in February 1995. The air quality in these two cities has now improved to the extent that the 98-percentile smoke levels for the 1996-7 heating season were in the range of 41 to 66 microgrammes per cubic metre, with no station recording a 98-percentile reading of 84 microgrammes per cubic metre. This is well below the EU limit value of 250 microgrammes per cubic metre. Thankfully, we do not expect the levels of smoke in Dublin and Cork to rise again towards the historic levels at any time in the future.
The systematic monitoring of air quality by local authorities and the annual analysis of the results by the Environmental Protection Agency now consistently show that all urban areas are well within the statutory air quality standard for smoke. The results also show that the quality of air in Dublin and Cork is generally better than that in a number of other cities and towns. I am conscious, however, of the fact that there is some public concern regarding the continued use of bituminous coal for urban home heating purposes.
There is a clear appreciation that public health and environmental conditions require our current good air quality to be maintained and smoke levels to be kept well within the widely accepted safety limits.
The Government is committed to a clean air policy. We want to see improvement, on a precautionary basis, in certain urban areas where smoke levels are higher than the average. The bans in Dublin and Cork have had a very beneficial effect on air quality and on the quality of life in these cities and the Government now wishes to secure improvements in air quality in other urban areas which could most benefit. This objective is in line with one of the strategic objectives for air quality outlined in "Sustainable Development — A Strategy for Ireland", published in April 1997, which sought to "maintain and, if possible, improve local air quality, particularly in urban areas, so as to minimise any health risk to the urban population and improve the quality of urban living".
My Department is now considering the financial and other implications of extending the ban on bituminous coal and I intend to make decisions in this regard in the near future. I will base my final decisions on the analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency of urban air quality up to the 1996-7 winter heating season. I have already detailed some of the EPA findings. I will also be reviewing data for some areas not included in the 1996 report, such as County Wicklow, where additional data are available to me.
It will be important to ensure that any extensions of the ban are properly determined so as to maximise the positive impact on urban air quality while ensuring that no undue burden is placed on householders, local authorities, the solid fuel industry or the Exchequer. It is my intention, therefore, to give careful consideration to all the issues involved. I am aware that the solid fuel industry would need a reasonable lead time to allow for proper forward planning or purchase requirements and to put contracts in place. Local authorities would also need time to plan for their enforcement requirements. Therefore, I would hope to be in a position to conclude this process in the next six weeks or so, in view of the lead times involved prior to the 1998-9 winter heating season which commences at the beginning of October next.
The current winter heating season has been kind to Limerick so far. There were only two days, at the beginning of December, when the concentration levels reached approximately 75 per cent of the 250 microgrammes per cubic metre limit value.
Nevertheless, Limerick is one of the areas under consideration in the context of the Government's commitment in regard to the extension of the ban on bituminous coal. While well within air quality limits, smoke levels in Limerick in recent years have been somewhat above those in Dublin and Cork over the same period.
Other comparisons show that in 1995-6, the 98-percentile smoke levels in Dublin were at 55 microgrammes per cubic metre and at 107 in Limerick. This level of differential was more marked for 1994-5 with Dublin at 28 and Limerick at 101. In 1996-7, the last year for which data are published, Limerick was at 99 compared to 41 microgrammes per cubic metre for Dublin.
The highest reading for smoke in Limerick in 1996-7 was 225 microgrammes per cubic metre at Ballykeeffe. The highest readings in the city area were lower, 173 microgrammes per cubic metre at Moyross and 145 microgrammes per cubic metre at Todds. The highest reading so far this winter has been 196 microgrammes per cubic metre at Moyross in December, 153 at Todds, 79 at Southhill and 70 at Ballykeeffe. These are all readings for one day only and for the rest of the time readings are substantially lower.
Banning bituminous coal has implications for the fuel industry. The solid fuel industry throughout the country recognises its continuing decline as people move to more convenient fuels. Experience has shown that the introduction of a ban on bituminous coal accelerates this kind of change.
While figures are not readily available and it is not possible to give a breakdown between the amounts of solid fuel sold in Limerick and in the surrounding areas, it is estimated by the trade that in the region of 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of solid fuel are sold annually in the urban area. The main fuel is coal, with trade split between a limited number of distributors. Figures for coal trade employment in the Limerick area are not readily available, given its fragmented nature.
In regard to costs, all recipients of the weekly £5 national fuel scheme in the coal ban areas of Dublin and Cork receive a £3 weekly "top-up" smokeless fuel allowance. These are the longer term disadvantaged and include most categories of long-term social welfare recipients. In addition, some categories of shorter term social welfare recipients also receive the £3 allowance in Dublin and Cork after three months, in certain family circumstances. These include categories such as disability benefit, unemployment benefit, short-term unemployment allowance and family income support. There are approximately 5,800 recipients of the national fuel allowance scheme in Limerick city currently, with another 500 who could qualify for the "top-up" after three months if the ban were extended to Limerick.
As I have said, my overall assessment of financial and other implications associated with extending the coal ban is not yet concluded. While final decisions have not been made, I am examining the appropriateness of a bituminous coal ban in Limerick. In this regard, I am conscious that air quality in the city is lower than the air quality now achieved in Dublin and Cork.
In conclusion, I wish to assure this House that the quality of urban air is an important issue for Government. It is one I am pursuing as a matter of urgency, and I look forward to continuing improvements over the coming years as a result of the action I am planning in the future.
