Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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738. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason there is no air pollution monitoring in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11197/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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To protect our environment with regard to air quality, a number of EU Directives set out standards for a wide variety of pollutants. The current standards are contained in the 2008 Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Directive (Directive 2008/50/EC) and the Fourth Daughter Directive (Directive 2004/107/EC of 15 December 2004). These Directives also include rules on how Member States should monitor, assess and manage ambient air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tasked with co-ordinating and managing the monitoring programme. Under the Directives, EU Member States must designate "Zones" for the purpose of managing air quality.  For Ireland, four zones were defined in the Air Quality Standards Regulations, 2011. The zones in place in Ireland in 2017 are Zone A: the Dublin conurbation, Zone B: the Cork conurbation, Zone C: comprising 23 large towns in Ireland with a population of more than 15,000 and Zone D: the remaining area of Ireland.

Ireland currently has a nationwide network of 31 monitoring stations which measure levels of air pollutants in the four zones. This information is delivered to the public in near real-time at www.airquality.epa.ie. The numbers and locations of the monitoring equipment for each pollutant are determined by the requirements of the Directives for ambient air monitoring in each zone.  There is one monitoring station in County Limerick, located on the Shannon Estuary near Askeaton.

Following a comprehensive review of the current status of ambient air quality monitoring in Ireland, the EPA is developing a new national ambient air quality monitoring programme under Section 65 of the EPA Act. My Department will provide the required funding to the Agency for this development which will strengthen the capacity and capability of the monitoring network to provide more comprehensive, localised air quality information linked to public health advice. The development of the expanded national ambient air monitoring network has included a review of the adequacy of the current network for both determining compliance with European and national standards for air quality, and for the provision of information to the public about local air quality.  I note that the programme proposes an additional monitoring site in Limerick City, and an indicative monitoring site in Abbeyfeale. I welcome the proposed expansion of the network and look forward to working with the EPA to develop its capacity to meet the future air quality needs of Irish citizens.