Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government is treating this matter seriously. As I said earlier, the Government, as a priority, is establishing an interagency group, whose membership will include the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the four local authorities and other agencies, to consider a range of options and potential measures. It is accepted that we have a problem. In raising the issue today Senator Humphreys has highlighted that it is an issue that needs to be tackled. I want to assure him that measures in the climate action plan will have a significant co-benefit to the work of this action group for air quality. An important investment in improvement of our national air quality monitoring capacity is under way, which is already yielding results that will help inform the most cost-effective and impactful policy measures that we need to take.

The results of the interagency group on urban transport-related air pollution and the forthcoming launch of the clean air strategy will build on this work and will help ensure that we achieve lasting reductions in the health environmental impacts of pollution in our city.