Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We need to acknowledge that Ireland has a higher incidence of respiratory illness than other countries in Europe. The European Environment Agency has reported we have 1,300 premature deaths a year from breathing illnesses and we all know of people with COPD and relatives of ours who have had traumatic deaths as a result of air quality. It is hidden. We dealt with the visible air quality problems of smog and indoor smoke in pubs, but now we are dealing with PM 2.5, which is an invisible form of pollutant and it is harder to get people motivated around something they cannot see. The new solid fuel regulations will have a dramatic effect on the number of people who are dying prematurely. I want to see local authorities being properly trained, financed, and staffed to be able to carry out their enforcement function around air quality. It is localised. There are reports of problems with smoke and with the smell of burning plastic and so on on the streets around Ireland and it is up to the local authorities to enforce the law on that.

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