The burning of smoke-producing coal is to be banned next year in Bray, Kilkenny, Sligo and Tralee in an extension of the Government scheme to curb air pollution in line with EU regulations, writes Mark Brennock, Irish Times Political Correspondent.
The change, which ended Dublin's worsening smog problem when introduced in the capital in 1990, will come into effect in the new areas in October, 2003.
While a statewide ban was initially proposed, the Government agreed to phase in the prohibition after receiving representations from the solid-fuel industry.
Social welfare recipients in the four urban areas will be given additional payments of about €4 per week during the winter heating season to help meet the extra cost of smokeless fuel. Such payments are already made in areas where the prohibition is in force.
The ban has already been extended to Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Dundalk, Drogheda, and three areas of Co Kildare: Celbridge, Leixlip and Naas. The recently-agreed Programme for Government made a commitment to extend the ban further.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, said yesterday that he welcomed the forthcoming extension of the prohibition.
"The improvement in air quality to the areas to which the ban has been applied is well documented and the classic example of this was the near overnight removal of the smog that engulfed Dublin city in 1990", he said. "This further extension of the ban is an important element of the developing strategy to reduce national emissions of various air pollutants under EU and international law."