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Ireland's first clean air strategy to target pollution for sake of health and environment

The government has published a plan to significantly improve Ireland’s air quality.

THE GOVERNMENT PLANS to develop a new Clean Air Act to drastically reduce air pollution as part of a new clean air strategy published today.

The strategy sets out measures to try to improve the quality of air in Ireland and cut down on pollution, including committing Ireland to setting stricter limits to stay within, to alleviate negative impacts on human health and the environment.

By 2040, the country should have reached the standard of the World Health Organisation’s air quality values, which set an even stricter bar for some pollutants than the EU air quality limits that Ireland is obliged to meet. 

Currently, air pollution is estimated to cause around 1,300 to 1,400 premature deaths annually, while medical conditions such as strokes, heart disease, lung disease, lung cancer, asthma and dementia can be exacerbated by poor air quality.

Launching the strategy today, Minister for the Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan said that there are “no safe levels of air pollution”.

“Clean air is central to our wellbeing and particularly the wellbeing of the most vulnerable — children, older people or people who may be medically compromised. It is also critical to our wider environment with benefits for our communities, our habitats and our wildlife,” the minister said.

“While we are fortunate that our air quality is generally good, we have pockets and times when it is not acceptable and it is still estimated that up to 1,400 people die prematurely each year in Ireland due to air pollution. We are committed to addressing this critical public health and environmental challenge.”

The strategy provides for the implementation of new Solid Fuel Regulations and a review of all of Ireland’s air quality legislation, as well as require every government department to report annually on its progress in reducing air pollution.

It also sets out that a progress report on the strategy will be completed in the second quarter of next year, with a Clean Air Progress report to be submitted to Government annually.

Cabinet ministers signed off on the Clean Air Strategy yesterday in a meeting that also approved the submission of a delayed long-term climate strategy to the EU.

Minister Ryan said today that there is an “intrinsic link” between clean air and climate because many sources of air pollution also produce carbon dioxide emissions, which trap heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere and cause global average temperatures to rise.

“The new Clean Air Strategy includes a range of measures aimed at addressing these overlapping issues, like electrifying our heat systems and improving the energy efficiency of our homes or moving towards more electric vehicles and away from dirty and polluting fossil fuels, for example,” the minister said.

“There is a clear correlation between the actions needed to lower air pollution and those needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Irish Heart Foundation said that the strategy includes several “positive commitments” but called for “more ambition” to reach standards earlier than the target of 2040.

Advocacy Manager Mark Murphy said: “The medical science is overwhelmingly clear. Air pollution is harmful to health at every stage of life, with cardiovascular health especially vulnerable to fine particulate matter, the most health-harming air pollutant.”

“Every year that we delay meeting these new WHO guidelines, we risk losing more lives prematurely, largely due to heart disease and stroke,” Murphy said.

“The strategy includes several positive commitments that will make a material impact in reducing air pollution, including a review of current legislation and the introduction of a new Clean Air Act. This will help deliver cleaner air by requiring the Government to set limits on certain pollutants and strengthen local authorities to take concrete measures to enforce and tackle air pollution,” he said.

However, “only by providing the necessary financial resources to local authorities can they be equipped to monitor and enforce air quality legislation”.

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    Mute Save Rainforest
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    Apr 26th 2023, 3:29 PM

    I bet the number of people dying because of the poor healthcare in Ireland is higher than 1400 people a year.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Apr 26th 2023, 3:45 PM

    @Save Rainforest: Air pollution is linked to 2,600 premature deaths annually.

    The major cross-border assessment reveals that around 2,600 premature deaths can be attributable to air pollution – 1,700 in the Republic and 900 in Northern Ireland – annually.

    https://irishheart.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Air-Pollution-and-Mortality-on-the-Island-of-Ireland-Report.pdf

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    Mute Donal Ronan
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    Apr 26th 2023, 4:41 PM

    ‘Minister for the Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan said that there are “no safe levels of air pollution’.
    He should tell the EPA
    They have granted CRH in Mungret Limerick a licence to burn the following>
    ‘tyres, plastics and animal waste tissue’
    This is the same company who were found by the EPA to have breached their licence multiple times for dust emissions.

    51
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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Apr 26th 2023, 9:13 PM

    Is there a safe level of cold and dampness associated with many people finding their homes unaffordable to heat?

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    Mute Don Hogan
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    Apr 26th 2023, 5:59 PM

    Misguided to forget about the impact these measures will have o the living. These zealots see not to care.One human life is worth more than 1,000 trees or a few bats.

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    Mute eoin fitzpatrick
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    Apr 26th 2023, 7:01 PM

    @Don Hogan: zealots yes, lunatics wanting less pollution and **gasp** clean air!

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Apr 26th 2023, 7:50 PM

    @Don Hogan: Its like watching a child fire a AK

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    Mute Anonymous User
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    Apr 26th 2023, 3:41 PM

    Looking at this green EPA map, I wonder where the pollution is…
    hxxps://airquality.ie/

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Apr 26th 2023, 3:56 PM

    @Anonymous User: Today we have 20 kph breeze from the south east that clearing the pollution. Bad air happens mainly in winter during high pressure weather, which can cause a temperature inversion that traps air pollution near the ground, in particular very fine soot particles, PM2.5. These small particles are able to cross from the lungs into the bloodstream, causing increased risk of asthma, stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.

    This happens about 1% of the time in Ireland e.g. this study showed that spikes in air pollution caused increased hospital admissions in Dublin:

    “Overall, AQIH distribution was: Good: 96% (1,575/1,642); Fair: 3% (52/1,642); and Poor: 1% (11/1,642). There were significant rises in admissions with change in AQIH (i.e. from good to very poor) for asthma, chronic obstructive airways disease and heart failure. There were also varying significant changes in short-term admission rates (i.e. up to 72 hours) following change in AQIH.”

    Also, slack winds and high UV in summer can also increase ground level ozone.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Apr 26th 2023, 5:42 PM

    Time to relax, put the feet up, light a cigarette & catch up on the news…
    Bah humbug!

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    Mute Des Leavy
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    Apr 27th 2023, 2:21 AM

    Comments closed, comments closed, comments closed…
    Why does The Journal have comments at all?

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