Air Quality and Noise

Air Quality

In January 2017, the Council installed three continuous particulate monitors in the city. One of these is located in the City Centre while the others are in the suburban areas of Mungret and Castletroy.

In May 2018, gas monitors were added to the network to measure NO2, SO2, O3 and CO. The monitoring results show that air quality in Limerick is good with only a few minor breaches of the World health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for PM2.5 and Ozone and no breaches of the of the EU CAFE Directive limits.

The main contributors to air quality issues nationally are transport and home heating.  In response, Limerick is currently encouraging people to leave their cars behind by providing better cycling, walking and public transport infrastructure and delivering awareness programmes through the Smarter Travel initiative.

Noise

The Council began mapping noise levels from major roads in 2007 and produced its first Noise Action Plan in 2008, as required under the Environmental Noise Directive.

Since the first plan was produced, the Council has steadily improved its resources with respect to the management of noise. It currently has a network of 4 type 2 sound level meters in the city which record noise levels continuously and provide real time data.

Limerick City & County Council is one local authority in Ireland that employs a qualified acoustician. Every planning application for noise sensitive developments is assessed to ensure that noise levels are acceptable.