13 more towns have been added to the list.
Minister for Climate Action and the Environment Richard Bruton announced on Tuesday that 13 more towns will no longer be permitted to burn bituminous coal, also known as 'smoky coal'.
"I have announced today that the smoky coal ban will be extended to 13 more towns, meaning that all towns with populations over 10,000 people will be covered," he said.
The towns affected by the latest expansion of the ban are: Cavan Town, Cobh, Midleton, Mallow, Killarney, Longford Town, Castlebar, Ballina, Ashbourne Laytown-Bettystown, Tullamore, Tramore and Enniscorthy.
There had originally been
plans for a nationwide ban on smoky coal to be in place by 2019.
The ban on smoky, or bituminous coal, was first introduced in Dublin — where the coal has been banned since 1990.
Following the original ban, bituminous coal was then banned in Cork from 1995, Arklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Limerick and Wexford from 1998, Celbridge, Galway, Leixlip, Naas and Waterford from 2000 and Bray, Kilkenny, Sligo and Tralee from 2003.
In 2011, the ban was extended to the towns of Athlone, Arklow, Clonmel and Ennis.
Seven new towns were also included with effect from May 2013; Greystones, Letterkenny, Mullingar, Navan, Newbridge, Portlaoise and Wicklow Town.
As of the most recent extension of the ban, all independent urban areas with populations above 10,000 in the Republic of Ireland are covered.
