Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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580. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the extent to which air pollutants have been identified at the air quality monitoring station in Enniscorthy, County Wexford; the action he will take in response to increases in air pollution in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6747/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Ambient air quality monitoring in Ireland is carried out in accordance with the requirements of 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.

Following a review by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of air quality monitoring and information provision in Ireland, a decision was taken to develop a new Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme (AAMP), which aims to enhance and build on current arrangements. One of the key objectives of the programme is to enhance the provision of real time air quality data to the public. The AAMP will more than double the capacity of ambient air quality monitoring in Ireland over the period 2017 to 2022, and enhance the provision of real time air quality data to the public. My Department has committed funding of some €5 million over the lifetime of the programme.

Hourly monitoring of PM10 and PM2.5 in Enniscorthy has been provided as part of this overall expansion of the national ambient air quality monitoring network. The new monitoring station in Enniscorthy, which is operated by Wexford County Council in partnership with the EPA, has recorded six exceedances of the daily PM10 limit value of 50 ug/m3 so far this year. During 2018 the station's annual average value exceeded the World Health Organisations (WHO) guideline value for PM2.5, along with other stations in the national monitoring network. However, it did not exceed the EU annual limit value for PM2.5.

In the most recently published report on Irish air quality, Air Quality in Ireland 2017 – Indicators of Air Quality, the EPA outlines that the WHO PM10 24 hour guideline value was exceeded at 11 monitoring stations, the PM2.5 24 hour guideline value was exceeded at 9 monitoring stations, and the PM2.5 annual guideline was exceeded at 1 monitoring site. The 2017 data showing that the burning of solid fuel is the biggest threat to good air quality in Ireland, followed by emissions from vehicle exhausts.

In relation to air pollution more generally, recent scientific evidence indicates that it is more damaging at lower concentrations than was previously understood. With this in mind, I am committed to bringing forward Ireland's first ever National Clean Air Strategy. The Strategy, which I intend to publish this year, will provide the policy framework necessary to identify and promote integrated measures across Government that are required to reduce air pollution and promote cleaner air, while delivering on wider national objectives. Domestic solid fuel use will be addressed in the context of the strategy.