150. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment which public authority is responsible for deciding when a wildfire-smoke or air-quality alert should be issued; and the thresholds or criteria used. [60497/26]

As Minister, I have no direct function with regard to wildfires and air quality alerts. These alerts, including consequences of severe weather such as fires, are captured as part of an emergency management policy, which falls under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and details of framework can be found at:www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/emergency-management/#framework-for-major-emergency-management.

Several public bodies collate and report on relevant data. The HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre have detailed information available on their website which they refer the public to when impacted by smoke from fires, including wildfires, see detail at: www.hpsc.ie/a-z/environmentandhealth/airquality/wildfires/. The EPA has an ambient air monitoring network of 113 fixed location stations across the country, data from these stations is available in real time and will measure pollutant concentrations if the smoke plume passes over a station, see www.airquality.ie. The EPA also provide support to local authorities and the HSE during significant wildfires and provide plume modelling based on current weather patterns.