Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

55 Chapter 2: Air Key chapter messages 1. While air pollution has reduced over recent decades, our understanding of the level at which it impacts health has grown. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that there is no safe level of air pollution. 2. Currently, Ireland is not meeting the guidelines set by WHO for multiple pollutants including fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. We can actively improve our local air quality by changing to more sustainable forms of transport and heating. 3. Achieving Ireland’s ambition, set out in the Clean Air Strategy, to move towards meeting the health- based WHO air quality guideline limits will be challenging but will have a significant and positive impact on health. A road map of actions is required to deliver on the overall ambition and the 2026 and 2030 interim targets. 4. Ireland is non-compliant with the EU reduction target for ammonia and will remain so in the short term. Meeting the 2030 emission reduction commitment is dependent on fully executing all known ammonia abatement measures at the farm level.