Professor John FitzGerald:

The Deputy has raised a reaL issue that needs further research. As I have always bought second-hand cars, I can see that it would be interesting to see whether we could speed up the adoption of second-hand cars in some way. There is another issue. If we increase the incentives now, it is difficult to lay our hands on one or two models that are popular. If the supply is fixed, the money will go either to the distributor or the manufacturer. This will be an issue at European level. Will the ramping up of production of electric cars happen sufficiently rapidly or will it simply increase the margin? For that reason, I am nervous about increasing the incentives. The issue the Deputy is raising of second-hand cars is interesting and merits further consideration.