Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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194. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to fulfil the Programme for Government commitment to invest in the network of monitoring stations to provide scientific evidence of air quality across different parts of the country including real-time and localised air quality information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25576/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme, operated by the Environmental Protection Agency, has undergone significant investment and expansion in recent years, with the number of monitoring stations increasing from 30 in 2017 to 93 today.All monitoring stations collect air quality data for a range of pollutants in order to provide information to the public, and for assessment against European legal limit values and World Health Organisation guideline values. Real-time data from these monitoring stations is available online at all times at www.airquality.ie, and the most recent report on Ireland’s air quality can be found at .

While Ireland has traditionally focused on measurements from monitoring stations to assess air quality, there is a need to provide more local air quality information throughout the country. The intention is that the information generated through monitoring, will be augmented by a newly developed modelling and forecasting capability, which will provide an ongoing air quality forecast service to the public.

This work is being developed as part of a new EU LIFE funded project called LIFE EMERALD, which commenced in January 2021. By 2024, this modelling project will deliver a national air quality forecast, a near real-time nowcast, and historical modelled maps along with multiple awareness raising and citizen engagement elements.

In the interim, a further expansion of the network is scheduled during 2021 and 2022 to include another 17 stations, giving a 110 station network, and serving to increase the evidential base required to inform the policy measures necessary to improve the quality of our air.