German motorists are facing drastic driving restrictions in all major cities as a result of new EU clean air legislation. But their counterparts in Ireland will be able to drive on because Irish cities have not yet breached the limits.
The tough new limits, in place since January 1st, mean that city air may not contain more than 50 micrograms of fine particle dust per cubic metre. The dust particles, known as PM10s, are most commonly released from diesel engines. Cities are allowed to breach the limit on no more than 35 days a year. Munich and Stuttgart are already above it, and environmental activists have started legal battles to force them to take action. Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin are close behind.
City officials in Düsseldorf and Dortmund have already gone so far as to ban certain types of diesel-fuelled vehicles from the roads. Other options being considered include city tolls along the same lines as London's successful congestion charge.
PM10s are blamed for causing 70,000 premature deaths a year in Germany, according to EU Industry Commissioner Günther Verheugen, who said last week that there was "scarcely anything more dangerous". Mr Verheugen has dismissed industry demands for looser PM10 guidelines as "pure nonsense" and criticised city governments for not acting sooner on the regulations.
Data from the European Commission's Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) project suggests that PM10 dust particles contribute to at least 288,000 premature deaths in Europe annually, with around 1,000 of those deaths occurring in Ireland.
As a result, the limit for PM10s has been progressively reduced from 75 micrograms per cubic metre in 1999 to 50 this year. Data compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here show the new limit would have been breached in Dublin in 2003.
Dr Ciaran O'Donnell, the EPA's programme manager for air quality, said a monitoring station at Coleraine Street, off North King Street, showed PM10 levels in excess of 50 micrograms on 37 days in 2003. But this did not breach the EU limit, which was 60 at the time.
But Martin Fitzpatrick, of Dublin City Council's air and noise pollution control unit, said the figures for 2004 had "dropped back dramatically" at all six monitoring stations in the city. The other five are in Marino, Wood Quay, Ballyfermot, Rathmines and Phoenix Park.
Both Dr O'Donnell and Mr Fitzpatrick agreed that traffic was the main culprit and said nitorogen dioxide (NO2) would have to be watched closely to ensure that it did not breach the annual average limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre laid down by the EU.
In its 2004 review of Ireland's environment, the EPA said compliance with the stringent PM10 and NO2 limits "may present problems in some urban areas" and might even involve short-term traffic bans, which would represent a challenge for local authorities.
A higher proportion of cleaner cars would help in mitigating the pollution problem, as will the opening next year of Dublin's port tunnel and the extension of quality bus corridors. As a result, Dr O'Donnell said, "we don't expect to go above the limits".