Environmental Noise

Noise Maps and Noise Action Plan

Under EU Directive 2002/49/EC transposed by SI number 140 of 2006, Environmental Noise Regulations 2006,  the four local authorities, within Dublin (Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Councils), are required to produce ‘Maps’ for noise emanating from major Industry and transport. This Directive was implemented on foot of an EU Green Paper on ‘Future Noise Policy’, which highlighted the need for a high level of health and environmental protection against noise. In the Green Paper, the Commission addressed noise in the environment as one of the main environmental problems in Europe.

The aims of this Directive are:

• To monitor environmental noise problems by requiring competent authorities in Member States to draw up "strategic noise maps" for major roads, railways, airports and agglomerations, using harmonised noise indicators Lden (day-evening-night equivalent sound levels) and Lnight (night equivalent sound levels). These maps are to be used to assess the number of people annoyed and sleep-disturbed respectively throughout each member state in the European Union. 
• To inform and consult the public about noise exposure, its effects, and the measures to be considered to address noise problems.  
• To address local noise issues by requiring competent authorities to draw up action plans to reduce noise where necessary and maintain the environmental acoustic quality where it is good. The directive does not set any limit value, nor does it prescribe the measures to be used in the action plans, which remain at the discretion of the competent authorities.  

To develop a long-term EU strategy, which includes objectives to reduce the number of people affected by noise in the longer term, and provides a framework for developing existing Community policy on noise reduction from source.

Noise Mapping

Under the Environmental Noise Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 140 of 2006), Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, being a designated ‘Noise Mapping Body’ is required to review and revise where appropriate noise maps for all road sound sources within their area. The revised individual maps are set out below, along with a detailed report on the revised population exposure statistics. For this round of ‘Noise Mapping’ Irish Rail and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) have produced maps for Rail and LUAS sources respectively. Details of the national noise mapping can be found here.

Dublin Agglomeration Noise Action Plan

Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council have jointly prepared an ‘Environmental Noise Action Plan’ for the Dublin Agglomeration. This strategic plan will cover environmental noise from traffic and rail and exclude noise from domestic activities, noise created by neighbours, noise at work places or noise inside means of transport or due to military activities in military areas. This plan is a continuation of the 2013-2018 Noise Action plan and sets out broad principles and actions to mitigate excessive environmental noise and protect areas of good acoustical quality within the Dublin Agglomeration. A copy of the Dublin Noise Action Plan 2018-2023 for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown can be found here.

Information about the Draft Dublin Agglomeration Noise Action Plan 2024-2028 can be found here.