Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide an overview of locations in which there are publicly-owned air-quality monitoring devices in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62341/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Details of the locations of all monitoring stations currently in operation, along with real-time and historic data from each station, can be found at the website, www.airquality.ie which is operated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The network of stations is part of the national Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme which is operated, maintained and monitored by the EPA. However, my Department has provided funding for a significant upgrade to the network in recent years and, as a result, the number of monitoring stations has increased from 29 in 2017 to 105 today.

All 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. The final expansion of the network is expected to be completed early next year and will increase the number of official stations to 116.

The LIFE EMERALD project, which commenced in 2021, will use the information from our monitoring network to provide a national 3-day air quality forecast and near real-time mapping of air pollutants throughout the country; as well as to create historical maps of air pollutants. The project will improve Ireland’s ambient air quality management capabilities, by using an air quality modelling system to gain a better understanding of the factors contributing to poor air quality and develop a system that will provide enhanced information to the public.