Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last night we saw an initiative in Cork City Council called the clean air night. While it is a good idea and perhaps a good initiative in getting people aware about reducing air pollution, there are only three air quality monitors on the northside of Cork, in Montenotte, Mallow and Gurranabraher. There are six on the southside. I do not think six are enough on the southside, but certainly three are not enough on the northside. We have a situation where a man from Glanmire who has asthma has contacted my office. He wants to be able to go out for a run or a jog. He is told, however, to check the air quality before he goes out but there is no air quality monitor in Glanmire. He was told to check a suitable town comparable to Glanmire, but Glanmire has one of the major roads in the country next to it as well as the Dunkettle roundabout, which is a cause of air pollution.

What role does the Minister's Department have in air pollution monitoring and what more can be done? Will the Minister ask the EPA to install more air monitors in Cork, especially on the northside and in areas like Glanmire?

See this speech in context