Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the nature of the Government's input to the evaluation of the EU air quality draft directives on particulate matter (details supplied) and NOx; his views on the inclusion of natural sources, such as Sahara sand and sea salt in the directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22226/05]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The 1999 air quality daughter directive relates to limit values for various air pollutants in ambient air, including particulate matter, PM, and oxides of nitrogen, NOx. In accordance with Article 10, the directive was reviewed by the European Commission and a review report was issued in January 2005.

The criterion for defining particulate matter in the 1999 directive is aerodynamic diameter. The origin of the particulate matter does not affect this definition and particles from natural sources, such as Sahara sand and sea salt, are therefore included in the scope of the directive. However, the directive allows individual member states to apply for derogations from any requirement to address exceedances where elevated levels of particulates arise as a result of certain specified circumstances, such as high wind events or transport of natural particles from dry regions. In its report on the review of the directive, the European Commission has stated that it is not considering changing or extending the existing derogation provisions.

In Ireland's case, there is no necessity to seek a derogation. The Environmental Protection Agency is the competent authority for implementing the air quality framework directive in Ireland and annually publishes an overview of ambient air quality. The most recent air quality and emissions to air report 2003, shows that Ireland's air quality remains good, without any breach of national and EU standards in force. Specifically, the ambient levels of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen, including whatever contribution there may be from Saharan sand and sea salt, are in compliance with the standards. The report is available in the Library.

Under the sixth environmental action programme, the Commission will later this year adopt a thematic strategy on air pollution as an outcome of the EU CAFE programme. The objective of this is to develop a comprehensive, integrated and coherent framework for all air legislation and related policy initiatives. The Commission's review report on the 1999 daughter directive will inform the development of the thematic strategy. Ireland, along with all member states, participates in the CAFE steering group at which the work of the working group on implementation was assessed and evaluated.