29% OF IRISH households would support traffic restrictions such as congestion charges and low-emission zones in polluted cities, according to a report by the CSO.

Recent polling from The Good Information Project/Ireland Thinks indicated that 36% of people are in favour of congestion charges for cars entering Irish cities.

Pete Lunn, head of the Behavioural Research Unit at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), told The Journal that congestion charging is “an effective policy from the point of view of reducing congestion”.

The CSO report also found that over 69% of rural households have no alternative transport option if road fuel taxes went up by 10%, and so would continue to use their vehicle to the same extent.

The stats are reveled in the Central Statistics Office’s Household Environmental Behaviours report, which analyses the attitudes and concerns of Irish households in relation to the environment.

The findings are based on a household environment module conducted as part of the CSO General Household Survey.

Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division Clare O’Hara said that the issue that received the highest proportion of ‘very important’ responses was water pollution:

• Over 79% of Irish households rated water pollution as a very important environmental concern
• Plastic waste was rated as a very important environmental concern by 74% of Irish households
• Air pollution was rated as a very important environmental concern by 72% of Irish households
• Climate change was rated as a very important environmental concern by 69% of Irish households.

Around 60% of urban households rated a lack of urban green spaces as a very important issue for them, while rural households gave this topic a lower rating at 39%.

Over 31% of households indicated that they would not make any energy efficiency improvements to their home if tax on home heating fuels was increased by 10%, because of the up-front cost.