EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Chapter Highlights for Air Quality Monitoring and research show that Ireland has air quality issues that need to be resolved. Poor air quality has implications for public health. Identified solutions need to be implemented for the causes of poor air quality, which mainly relate to the residential use of solid fuels for home heating, emissions from transport, especially from diesel and petrol engine passenger cars, and ammonia-related emissions from livestock farming. Using home heating choices that reduce air emissions, along with improved standards for the quality of solid fuel available, will help to minimise local air quality impacts. Reducing our reliance on diesel- and petrol-fuelled passenger cars and the adoption of best practices to reduce agricultural ammonia emissions on farms will have co-benefits for air quality, the climate, human health and biodiversity. In addition, the implementation of the commitments in the government’s Climate Action Plan will have co-benefits for air quality. The need for a National Clean Air Strategy supported by WHO standards is more pressing than ever. The publication and roll- out of actions as part of the National Clean Air Strategy will be a necessity. The adoption of the WHO guideline values as national air quality standards would provide for a higher level of public health protection. 80