Regional EU Sustainable Development Indicators for Ireland 2022

Quality of life in cities and communities

Severe housing deprivation rate

SDG 11_11 Severe housing deprivation rate is defined as the percentage of population living in the dwelling which is considered as overcrowded, while also exhibiting at least one of the housing deprivation measures.

Housing deprivation is a measure of poor amenities and is calculated by referring to those households with a leaking roof, no bath/shower and no indoor toilet, or a dwelling considered too dark. See Table 11.1 and Figure 11.1.

Population living in households suffering from noise

SDG_11_20 measures the proportion of the population who declare that they are affected either by noise from neighbours or from the street. Because the assessment of noise pollution is subjective, it should be noted that the indicator accounts for both the levels of noise pollution as well as people’s standards of what level they consider to be acceptable. Therefore, an increase in the value of the indicator may not necessarily indicate a similar increase in noise pollution levels but also a decrease of the levels that European citizens are willing to tolerate and vice versa. In fact, there is empirical evidence that perceived environmental quality by individuals is not always consistent with the actual environmental quality assessed using ‘objective’ indicators, particularly for noise. See Table 11.2 and Figure 11.2.

Premature deaths due to exposure to fine particulate matter

SDG_11_52 estimates the number of premature deaths attributable to long-term exposure to PM_2.5.

PM_2.5 are particulates whose diameter is less than 2.5 micrometres and which can be carried deep into the lungs where they can cause inflammation and exacerbate the condition of people suffering heart and lung diseases. See Table 11.3 and Figure 11.3.

Sustainable mobility

Road traffic deaths 

SDG_11_40 measures the number of fatalities caused by road accidents, including drivers and passengers of motorised vehicles and pedal cycles as well as pedestrians. Persons dying on road accidents up to 30 days after the occurrence of the accident are counted as road accident fatalities. After these 30 days, the reason for dying might be declared differently. For member states not using this definition, corrective factors are applied. The average population of the reference year (calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 1st January of two consecutive years) is used as denominator (per 100,000 persons). See Table 11.4 and Figure 11.4.

Environmental impacts

Settlement area per capita

SDG_11_31 captures the amount of settlement area used for buildings, industrial and commercial areas, infrastructure and sports grounds etc. and includes both sealed and non-sealed surfaces. See Table 11.5 and Figure 11.5.

 Recycling rate of municipal waste

SDG_11_60 measures the tonnage recycled from municipal waste divided by the total municipal waste arising. Recycling includes material recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion; and preparing for reuse. Municipal waste consists mostly of waste generated by households, but may also include similar wastes generated by small businesses and public institutions and collected by the municipality. This latter part of municipal waste may vary from municipality to municipality and from country to country, depending on the local waste management system. For areas not covered by a municipal waste collection scheme the amount of waste generated is estimated. The member states report each year the amount recycled and the total municipal waste generated to Eurostat. Data collection, validation and dissemination are performed by the EDC Waste hosted at Eurostat. See Table 11.6 and Figure 11.6.