James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Transport, and for Climate, Energy and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, sends his apologies. Clean air is fundamental to our well-being and quality of life and is essential for the health of the environment on which we depend, hence the high priority given to improving Ireland’s air quality in the current programme for Government. Ambient air quality standards for Ireland are currently established through EU legislation which provides for a minimum level of health protection. New WHO air quality guideline levels published in 2021 provide greater ambition in terms of reductions to decrease health impacts. While they firmly highlight that there is no safe level of air pollution they are not legally binding. Ireland's ambition with regard to air quality was set out in the national Clean Air Strategy, which commits us to achieving the new WHO guideline levels by 2040. This will be challenging and will require significant legislative, policy and behavioural change. Determining the most appropriate policy measures required to bring about these changes will take time and we need to make sure that the measures introduced do not create unintended consequences. Through the implementation of the Clean Air Strategy this Government will ensure continuous reductions in air pollution levels.

Monitoring and modelling of air pollution carried out by the EPA is essential to help us better understand where issues are arising so that we may ensure national measures are in place to deliver air pollution reductions and look to target policy measures to those areas with specific issues. Over the past number of years significant progress has been made in relation to air quality including the delivery of the Clean Air Strategy, the new solid fuel regulations and transport-related policy measures which are already starting to have a positive impact on our air quality. BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, providing better bus services across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the National Transport Authority. BusConnects Dublin will deliver 230 km of bus corridors and 200 km of cycling lanes providing safe, accessible, and efficient transport to many more people while reducing traffic congestion and noise and air pollution. No new diesel-only buses have been purchased for urban public service obligation bus fleets since July 2019, and the transition to a zero-emission urban bus fleet is currently programmed to take until 2035 based on replacement of non-zero-emission buses as they reach the end of their efficient service lives. The first order of 100 double-deck electric buses for the Dublin network was placed in 2022 and all were delivered by the end of last year. More than 30 of these buses are in service now using charging infrastructure at Phibsborough and Summerhill bus depots and all are scheduled to go into operation over the coming months.

On WHO air quality standards, the air quality at Doyle's Corner in Phibsborough is currently above the WHO guideline values, and the BusConnects programme will provide slight improvement to the air quality in this area through prioritisation of bus services along this route. The evaluation of the BusConnects project does not take all other transport-related policy measures into account and as such does not provide a substantial indication of future air quality levels along the routes. Overall, the Government remains committed to improving our air quality for the benefit of all and is taking a range of measures to do so.