Mr. John Rice:

To somewhat repeat what Ms Behan has stated, ESB has made serious progress in implementing the roll-out of its public charging infrastructure and expects to have 1,000 points within the next year or so, half of the draft directive's target. I do not anticipate a problem. In fact, ESB is in the vanguard of EV infrastructure and the relevant smart technology, even in a European context. Recently, it was successful in a European competition to secure funding.

The directive is agnostic in terms of how member states should engage with the market to achieve targets. In an Irish context, careful consideration must be given to determining how to implement and fund these measures and who will be responsible for both aspects.