Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding the Minister of State's answer and the good work that is being done in the roll-out of air quality monitoring stations across the country, we are looking at a total of 116, which is not a lot given the number of urban areas we have.

The latest EPA report highlighted localised concerns around air quality and I do not believe the monitoring system we have now is really picking up the real situation that is there. It needs to be looked at. The Minister of State mentioned the urban transport related working group. I am not sure how it can make recommendations or decisions unless it has very good monitoring. As the Minister of State knows, this is a very serious public health issue. Bad air quality increases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and exposure to car fumes reduces the lung function in children and causes childhood asthma. Pollution from traffic also increases the risk of stroke as well. This is an extremely serious issue and our monitoring needs to be appropriate and show us what is really happening in our towns and cities.

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