John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Government is committed to introducing comprehensive legislation on noise pollution. As part of the preparatory process, extensive public consultation was undertaken during which over 200 submissions were received from the public and key stakeholders. After due consideration of these submissions, the General Scheme of a Noise Nuisance Bill was prepared and approved by the Government in May 2009 and is scheduled for publication later this year.

Currently, a person experiencing noise nuisance may contact their local authority to ascertain if it will initiate proceedings on grounds of noise nuisance under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. It is also open to any person, or group of persons, to seek an order in the District Court to have noise giving reasonable cause for annoyance abated under section 108 of the Act. The procedures involved have been simplified to allow action to be taken without legal representation. A public information leaflet A Guide to the Noise Regulations, outlining the legal avenues available to persons experiencing noise nuisance, is available on my Department's website www.environ.ie.