Noise Insulation (Hansard, 22 February 1991)

§ Mr. Mallon
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance is available for the purposes of insulating homes against excessive noise in the vicinity of(a) motorways, (b) heavily trafficked roads, (c) civil airports, (d) low-flying zones and (e) military bases and installations; and in each case at what level of noise the assistance is made available.

§ Mr. Needham
No such assistance is currently available in the case of motorways, or heavily trafficked roads. In the case of civil airports the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland may direct the operation of a civil airport to take measures to limit or mitigate the effect of noise from aircraft. Where it appears to the Department that these measures do not give adequate protection to nearby housing, the Department may, by order, make a scheme requiring the airport operator to make grants towards the cost of sound proofing the affected dwellings. Questions in relation to low-flying zones and military bases lie within the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.

§ Mr. Mallon
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many traffic noise surveys have been carried out by his Department in each of the last five years; and if he will give details of the results of such surveys.

§ Mr. Needham
Exercises to calculate the level of traffic noise have been undertaken at a number of locations in the past five years but the results of these studies are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Mallon
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the assistance available to householders who need to insulate their homes against noise pollution; and what conditions must be met to qualify for assistance.

§ Mr. Needham
No such assistance is available.

§ Mr. Mallon
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the threshold noise levels above which his Department assesses there may be injurious effects on the health and welfare of individuals(a) at work and (b) at home.

§ Mr. Needham
The Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1990 provide for the protection of workers from exposure to noise at work.
Where any employee is likely to be exposed to a daily personal noise exposure of between 85 and 90 dB (A), the regulations require that the employee is provided with suitable and efficient personal ear protectors, but if the daily exposure is 90 dB (A) or above the employer is required to reduce, so far as is reasonably practicable, the exposure to noise other than by the provision of personal ear protectors.
299W
No threshold noise levels are prescribed for determining injurious effects on the health and welfare of individuals at home.