Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The air we breathe is growing dangerously polluted. According to the World Health Organization, nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air which kills 7 million people across the world every year. In Ireland premature deaths caused by air pollution are estimated at 1,200 people per year. Air pollution is an invisible killer. One in five children in Ireland suffers from asthma and four deaths a day are directly associated with poor air quality. The health effects are serious. One third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are from air pollution. This has the same effect as someone smoking tobacco and it is higher than the effect of eating too much salt.

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