Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I will certainly bring the points he raised in his contribution to the senior Minister and the Ministers of State in the Department. Regarding the 2021 WHO air quality guidelines, the strategy commits us to achieving the interim target by 2026, the IT4 target by 2030 and the achievement of the final WHO air quality guideline values by 2040. I note what the Deputy said around the clean air communications group. I will bring this to the attention of the Minister. He also mentioned the clean air Act and a public awareness campaign perhaps being of merit. I also note what he said, and I concur, regarding the risk of COPD and asthma in the population. The Deputy mentioned a figure of 400,000 deaths across Europe.

It is important that all these points are taken into account when we are trying to tackle air pollution. It is important to say as well that the project's findings mirror the annual air quality in Ireland reports from the EPA by stating that while air quality in Ireland is generally good, there are some localised issues. This is not just an issue in Ireland but also in other countries around the world. It is important, though. The Deputy also mentioned that our clean air strategy does commit to going above the WHO guidelines and this must be taken into account as well. I will certainly bring the Deputy's contribution to the attention of the senior Minister.

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