Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will outline the various means by which the State measures and monitors air quality in compliance with the various European directives on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2088/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The main ambient air quality monitoring programme in Ireland is carried out to meet the requirements of EU Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, also known as the CAFÉ Directive. The Directive sets legally binding limit values, and target values for a range of pollutants and requires that certain minimum levels of monitoring are conducted for the purpose of assessment and management of air quality.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has responsibility for the monitoring of air quality in Ireland, and monitors a range of atmospheric pollutants via a network of permanent and fixed-term air quality monitoring stations located around the country, reporting the results on its website at:

Monitoring includes the following pollutants: nitrogen oxides; sulphur dioxide; carbon monoxide; ozone; particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), ozone, benzene and volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The EPA publishes also an annual report on air quality, based primarily on the monitoring requirements of the CAFÉ Directive. The most recent report, Air Quality in Ireland 2011 – Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality , was published in September 2012 and provides an assessment of air quality in Ireland for 2011, compared to the CAFÉ Directive standards, based on data obtained from the 29 monitoring stations that form the national ambient air quality network. No exceedances of EU limit values were recorded for 2011.