COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 13, 2020

QUESTION NO. 5

QUESTION: Councillor Carly Bailey

To ask the Chief Executive how air quality monitoring operates within the county, how often it is carried out, where it is carried out (and how that is determined) and how the public and elected representatives can access reports on same?  

REPLY:

Air Quality monitoring in South Dublin forms part of the government’s National Clean Air Strategy. This strategy has been implemented under the EU Clean Air for Europe, more commonly referred to as the Café Directive. The strategy is led by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Department of Environment’s aegis. As part of the Clean Air Strategy, the EPA introduced their National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme back in 2017 and to run for the next three years.

This programme was based around the increase nationwide from 29 fixed air monitoring sites to 63 and to overhaul and update several of the current ones. The location and selection of stations is a function of the EPA in collaboration with local authorities. Ireland is divided up into 4 zones with the large cities being designated Zone 1 status and the Dublin region having the largest number of sites.

In South Dublin, our urban background air quality station at Old Bawn has been re designated upwards into a Traffic Pollutant station. This will result in the additional monitoring of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) to the existing parameters of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Particulate Matter (PM10) with an investment of approximately €90,000.

Once the structural works are completed in mid-January 2020, all three parameter/pollutants will be monitored 24 hours a day and available on a daily basis @EPAAIRQUALITY.

In addition to this, the monitoring of Nitrogen Dioxide is also carried out by the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) along the M50 motorway using dispersion modelling air quality monitoring. This is because of the high volumes of vehicular traffic on this road.

The EPA is also planning a large air project next year involving members of the public and second level schools in 2020. The aim of the project is to measure levels of NO2 in Dublin and Cork, particularly concentrating near areas of high traffic density. South Dublin County Council and TUD Tallaght have also commenced discussions in a potential partnership to measure air quality in the university campus and Tallaght village vicinity.