Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The national air quality monitoring stations are operated, maintained and monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency under the ambient air quality monitoring programme. My Department has provided funding for a significant upgrade to the network in recent years and the number of monitoring stations has increased from 29 in 2017 to 116 today.

All stations collect air quality data for a range of pollutants to provide information to the public, and for assessment against European legal limit values and World Health Organization guideline values. The EPA produces an annual report on air quality in Ireland that provides an overview of our air quality and key issues that impact on it. Details of the locations of all monitoring stations currently in operation, along with real-time and historic data from each station, can be found at www.airquality.ie.

Dublin Airport undertakes a voluntary ambient air quality monitoring programme. This includes the operation of an on-site air quality monitoring station, which measures a range of parameters on a continuous basis, complemented by monthly monitoring undertaken at 11 locations in communities surrounding the airport. Dublin Airport air quality monitoring station data is provided to the EPA on a continuous basis and can be viewed on the EPA website at . Dublin Airport also publishes quarterly reports on air quality monitoring that help to keep local communities informed. These reports are available at www.dublinairport.com/corporate/corporate-social-responsibility/air. Monitoring results indicate good air quality with concentrations of the main transport-related parameters below the national ambient air quality standards.

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