Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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74. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to provide funding to increase the number of traffic-sited air pollution monitors in towns and cities, particularly on high-traffic streets, to gather data to help raise awareness of the harm of car fumes and the need for modal shift to active and public transport, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41651/23]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I wish to ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications about his plans to provide funding to increase the number of traffic-sited air pollution monitors in towns and cities, particularly on high-traffic streets, to gather data to help raise awareness of the harm of car fumes and the need for modal shift to active and public transport, and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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National air quality monitoring stations are operated, maintained and monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, 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 114 today. The expansion will be complete when the remaining stations are connected in 2023, which will bring the final number of stations to 116.

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 the website, www.airquality.ie.

The LIFE EMERALD project, which commenced in 2021, will use the information from our monitoring network to develop a modelled air quality map of the whole country, filling in the gaps between the current stations. As such, no additional permanent stations will be required, with funding being focused instead on measures required to reduce the drivers of pollution, including those contained in the report of the urban transport-related air pollution working group, which was established to consider the key actions required to reduce transport-related pollution in our urban areas.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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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.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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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.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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Excellent work is being done in the area of smoky fuels by this Government. We really are turning a corner there but we are not looking closely enough at the air quality issue due to traffic. The analysis in the EPA report simply is not there and it needs to be there to instill confidence in the population that this is being monitored properly. That does not come from the EPA report with respect to traffic air quality. It is a very serious issue. We need to apply as much rigour to the traffic air quality issue as we have done to that of smoky fuels. Will the Minister of State take these concerns back and look at this in more detail? I do not believe it is appropriate that we would cease the roll-out of air quality monitoring as it relates to traffic at this point. There is a lot more work to do.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I refer the Deputy to the report of the urban transport related air pollution working group to see what its analysis of transport-related emissions are. There is a particular problem around schools to do with idling and the fact there are young children with growing brains hanging around outside schools while a lot of vehicles pollute those areas. I will be meeting with the EPA shortly and will raise the Deputy's concerns around air quality from traffic, its monitoring in urban areas, and what can be done about it.