More than 1.1 million Irish people are exposed to high levels of transport noise that exceed thresholds set under EU reporting rules and which harm health, a five-year review of noise pollution across Europe has found.
The environmental noise in Europe 2025 report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes 1.14 million Irish people were exposed to unsafe noise levels, with just over 1 million related to road traffic, 92,700 related to rail and 13,400 related to airport flights.
The figures from 2021-2022 are likely to be an underestimate, according to noise experts.
More than 20 per cent of Europeans – 110 million people – are exposed to high levels of transport noise, says the report published on Tuesday. It calls for stronger action at EU and national levels to address the problem.
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Progress in decreasing exposure to harmful levels of noise has been slow, the EEA says. Long-term exposure to transport noise is linked to a wide range of negative impacts on health including cardiovascular diseases, mental illness, diabetes and premature death.
The report says children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to noise effects. Based on new research, noise exposure in children contributes to reading impairment, behavioural problems and obesity.
Dr Eoin King, a noise specialist based at the University of Galway, said the level of noise exposure being experienced by more than one million Irish people is at a level that both the EU and World Health Organisation would consider damaging to health.
Given when data was compiled and how the report is put together using “noise maps” and targeted at large cities and extremely busy roads, levels were likely to be “an underprediction”. This was especially in relation to aviation and Dublin Airport in particular, he said.
[ ‘We’re blasted out of it’: Living under Dublin Airport’s flight pathsOpens in new window ]
The noise map for Dublin Airport was “not up to par”, he said, because flight paths were incorrect while the noise was averaged out over a longer time period rather than a measure of intermittent noise associated with flights. “This doesn’t capture the true impact on people,” Dr King said.
He hoped more progressive noise indicators would be used at the airport.
“Noise policy in Ireland is nowhere near where it should be,” he added. This had been recognised by the EPA and in a study by UCD and the ESRI, which found noise was more impactful on the Irish population than air quality.
Dr King said there was a lack of public awareness of the health implications and “little political will to do something about noise”.
There was no legal noise limit in Ireland, while the EU was hesitant about applying a European noise limit “because countries like Ireland are so far behind. So all it can do is guide policy”.
Local authorities were required to produce noise action plans but for most, this was a box-ticking exercise and the problem came down to a lack of expertise, he said.
Residents living near Dublin Airport welcomed the report as it “spells out the real cost to the public of noise pollution”. The St Margaret’s The Ward group said it highlights in stark terms the impacts on health and wellbeing of people living close to airports.
In April, the group published its own independent report on the health impacts of noise pollution which placed the costs at €800 million annually. The EEA report concludes aircraft noise affects about 2.6 million people (day, evening and night) across Europe.
Group spokesman Liam O’Gradaigh said: “Our own report in April spelled out just what local residents have had to endure through exposure to noise pollution. Now that we have an international watchdog such as the EEA pointing out the real costs across Europe, maybe politicians, policymakers and those driving completely unsustainable growth at Dublin Airport might sit up and pay attention before it is too late.”
Mr O’Gradaigh said the report probably underestimates current aviation impacts as data used stems from the period of the Covid pandemic when aircraft movements plummeted.
