Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. Having listened to the presentations, it is very clear the difficulties the National Transport Authority has, as an independent body, in trying to co-ordinate the issues. I have considerable understanding of what Ms Behan has to do to try to pull all sides together to get a coherent policy framework in place. I have raised the same issues with officials from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment who are not in charge of all the policy elements. There is no doubt that individual Departments will have their own concerns, issues and responsibilities. What I would like to hear from Mr. Doyle is what delineation can be made and what movement can be made in terms of responsibility around certain areas. It seems somewhat bizarre that because the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has responsibility for the generation of electricity, the network or charging points should necessarily reside in that Department. If that was a function of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr. Doyle could possibly deploy some policies that would ensure the charging network was built out more quickly to other areas.

I concur with Deputy Stanley because a number of constituents who have made the shift to electric vehicles have informed me their next vehicle purchase will be a hybrid. They are moving backwards because fast charging points are not available and they are not being policed or managed to the extent that they should be, which means other people park in them. Moreover, they have also been broken on occasion. When I question the ESB and others, their response is that the charging network is adequate for the number of electric vehicles we have and the number anticipated. If we are trying to overcome the range anxiety issue, we have to front-load charging facilities to the extent that people become sick of seeing them around the place and they become ubiquitous. This will result in a consciousness among the public that they will not be caught out without access to a power source.

We met representatives of the automotive sector. They are introducing new electric vehicles with improved range and the car class issue is also being addressed. At some point, we will reach a tipping point, where there will be a significant demand and I am concerned that the network of charging points will not adequate to meet it. The incentives are good, but could be better. Others have outlined what has happened in Norway and we have put forward policy proposals in that regard in the past.

It is imperative that we do something big to give confidence to consumers that we will ensure they have access to a charging network. Charging it home will not be an issue. The concern is that people will be caught out somewhere else.

There is an issue around train stations and Luas stations. There should be much better parking options at the Red Cow for those of us who travel from the country to the city. One can spend an hour pumping diesel fumes in traffic for the five or six miles from the N7 to the city. If parking was available at the Red Cow, it would make a significant contribution towards decluttering the city. I take the point that different places are owned by different entities. Mr. Doyle should tell us what kind of places his Department would like control of. We can act together to reorientate that approach.

There are issues around the charging and parking policies of Iarnród Éireann. A sign in the carpark of Limerick railway station warns drivers that they are responsible for their vehicle at night. It is really saying that people would be better off not parking in the station carpark overnight because there are certain blind spots and there have been break-ins. I can understand that from the point of view of Iarnród Éireann. The board and CEO of the company have many issues to address, and parking falls well down the line in terms of its contribution to climate change. One of the Departments must take responsibility, and I do not just mean responsibility for co-ordination.

Mr. Doyle said that diesel-only purchases will end in 2019. I have made the point at other committees about the decision to purchase 110 buses last year. That has been done and we cannot go back on it. There is no point in hauling Mr. Doyle over the coals about it, but we should agree that, from today onwards, the bus companies should use what they have until an alternative can be sourced. They should not purchase anything beyond today. This is not just about the electricity network. We should also consider compressed natural gas. It will be a long time before the industry invests in that.

There has been talk about hydrogen in certain areas, particularly its potential use for heavy goods vehicles. It would be expensive to roll out technology like that, but we should decide to do that in any case. Perhaps it would not be used for ten or 15 years, and perhaps technology would improve and that approach will be made redundant. If it helps in the move towards less polluting approaches to transport, we should do it.