Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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154. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which air quality is being protected; the degree to which the measures in place are achieving the desired result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44351/21]

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Air quality in Ireland is protected by a range of legislation and policies, in line with EU and international policy, and is monitored by the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme, operated by the Environment Protection Agency, and funded by my Department. This programme has undergone significant expansion in recent years, from 29 stations in 2017 to 96 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 (WHO) guideline values. Data from these monitoring stations shows that the measures to protect our air quality have on the whole been effective and where exceedances of air quality guideline value levels have been observed, these have been primarily due to the burning of solid fuel in our cities, towns and villages. Each year, some 1,300 people die prematurely in Ireland due to air pollution from solid fuel burning. I am committed to addressing this critical public health and environmental challenge through enhanced regulation of all solid fuels. From September 2022, new emissions standards will be introduced across a range of fuels to ensure that the most polluting will no longer be available for sale on the Irish market.  Introducing these standards will improve the quality of the air that we breathe, and the health of the public that we serve.

The national Clean Air Strategy, currently being finalised by my Department, will commit us to further cutting levels of the most damaging and dangerous pollutants in order to meet the current guideline limits recommended by the WHO. The Strategy will also identify and promote the integrated measures and actions across Government that are required to reduce air pollution and promote cleaner air, while delivering on wider national objectives.