'Cause for concern' - Cuffe calls on government to tackle air pollution

The man who topped the poll in the recent European Election in Dublin claims the recent increase in air-pollution in Ireland could cause people to die early.

Ciarán Cuffe was reacting to reports that air pollution has risen significantly in the capital as well as Enniscorthy, Dundalk and Cork.

The Green Party MEP has called on the government to act.

"I think it is a real cause for concern," he said.

"I think we need to get clearer data from the Environmental Protection Agency and we need to act on that date.

Ireland has a relatively low level of air pollution compared to other European countries, however, according to a European Environment Agency 2018 report, there are 400,000 premature deaths in Europe annually related to air pollution and over 1,000 of these happen in Ireland.

"We already know that there are almost 1,000 premature deaths in Ireland from air quality and the government needs to up its game in reducing the factors that are contributing to this."