Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot is being called on to take air quality more seriously after ruling out regular testing.

Mr Boot rejected claims the health of island residents could be compromised by his decision to restrict monitoring to a ’snapshot’ every two years.

Despite the minister’s assertions in Tynwald this week that the island’s air quality met international standards, Bill Shimmins (Middle) said: ’If you look at the data, Quarterbridge pollution ratings are up by 50% and the Lord Street [Douglas] readings have now also increased since the last monitoring to only two micrograms per cubic meter below the EU legal limit.

’Will the Environment Minister take this more seriously and commit to more regular air monitoring to ensure that the health of the people of the Isle of Man is not being compromised?’

Meanwhile, Ralph Peake (Douglas North) called upon Mr Boot to show ’leadership’ by carrying out more regular monitoring and aiming to improve air quality further.

’Annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in the UK between 1990 and 2017 measured at roadside have reduced concentrations from 60 micrograms per cubic meter in 1998 to around 38 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017,’ said Mr Peake.

’A minister’s responsibility is to communicate facts and ways the public can help improve the situation.’

Earlier Mr Boot referred to a recent survey of air quality.

’All readings were below UK/EU maximums and in line with previous readings taken during the years 2003-09 when we stopped testing,’ he said.

’In light of that reassuring confirmation, I am currently minded to simply repeat this snapshot sampling approach approximately every two years.’

He added: ’These tests show marginal changes and there is not a problem in the Isle of Man.’

Mr Boot said Lord Street pollution had actually ’reduced by four points since 2008’, while Richmond Hill had dropped too.

However, this this sparked an angry response from Mr Shimmins, who accused him of a ’selective interpretation’ of data.

He said that although there was a reduction from 2008 at Lord Street, there had actually been a three points increase from 2009-18.

’If you are going to selectively pluck data out of the air to support a particular perspective, that does not give people of the Isle of Man confidence we are taking this matter seriously,’ said Mr Shimmins.

But Mr Boot told Mr Shimmins: ’Selective use of statistics seems to apply to you as well.’

He refused to commit to regular monitoring of air quality on at least a six-monthly basis.

The minister said: ’We have to accept that the use of fossil fuels and diesel cars is not reducing substantially but will do over a period of time with more hybrid cars and more electric cars.’

And the minister sounded a warning: ’We can encourage them by putting more electric charging points in.

’But there will come a point even there where we have to face the fact that if fossil fuel sales decline to a point where garage premises do not exist, the duties will fall, the VAT will fall, and we will eventually have to start charging people a going rate that includes duty and VAT for electric.’