Air Pollution (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-28
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Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

I thank the Seanad for the expeditious way in which it is progressing this legislation. It has been very agreeable but, unfortunately, I cannot accept this amendment. I thank Senators Sarah O'Reilly and Boyhan for their proposed amendment.
As I set out on Second Stage, the focus of the legislation being introduced is to give the local authority powers to ensure that the solid fuel placed on the market meets a certain standard. This is to reduce the impact solid fuel has on the environment and to reduce the number of premature deaths attributed to air pollution. The Bill is about reducing the 1,700 premature deaths that occur in Ireland each year because of poor air quality, nearly ten times the number of road deaths last year. We must also remember that poor air quality contributes to heart disease, stroke, asthma, depression and anxiety.
The approach under the Bill is to improve air quality and ensure that only compliant fuel is made available by commercial operators for sale to householders. The provision for a Minister to impose a restriction on the use of the burning of solid fuels through regulations, including the burning of solid fuel by householders, was included in the Air Pollution Act 1987. It has been there since the beginning. The proposed amendment would remove the restatement of this long-standing power. To be very clear, what the Senators are proposing to remove is not something that is being inserted in the legislation by the amendments we are bringing forward but rather a provision that has been there since 1987. Given that the Act is one of the primary instruments to protect air quality in the State, it would be imprudent to remove this measure should it ever be needed in the future. Such a scenario might include where there was such a serious threat to air quality to the extent that there was no other alternative but to consider this measure.
It is worth noting that the current solid fuel quality regulations do not impose any restrictions or penalties on householders regarding the solid fuel that they use and the Bill does not impact on the current arrangement in place for householders, nor does it envisage a requirement in the future, save in the exceptional circumstances that I have outlined, as recognised back in 1987 when the legislation was first enacted.
The current solid fuel regulations are in place since 2022 and concentrate on the sale and distribution of unapproved solid fuel at a commercial level, rather than placing restrictions on householders. I repeat that there is nothing in the Bill that changes the current arrangements in place for householders with regard to solid fuel or its usage. The Bill is, however, expanding the options open to local authorities to enforce solid fuel legislation through fixed-payment notices, also known as on-the-spot fines and the powers to remove non-compliant fuel from commercial circulation and improved solid fuel registers to ensure that only compliant producers, transporters and retailers can operate commercially. In essence, the measures that we are bringing forward in this Bill are aimed exclusively at producers, transporters and retailers and the provisions relate to all of that. The Bill is not about punishing householders; it is about giving local authorities the enforcement toolkit they need to ensure they can enforce the rules that apply to the production, transport and sale of solid fuel.
The Bill is also about making sure that the fuel sold on the Irish market is of a higher quality and is less polluting. Householders will also benefit by having confidence that what they buy is cleaner and safer. For the reasons set out, I cannot accept the proposed amendment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-28