Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Dr. Windisch has answered most of my questions, particularly as regards electric vehicles. I have a concern, though. While we all want to see a modal shift to public transport, we must recognise Ireland's dispersed rural communities. It is accepted that electric vehicles will be an important component if we are to meet our emission targets.

Dr. Windisch referred to reaching a point of equilibrium between the price of a conventional vehicle and the price of an electric vehicle. Has she modelled when that might happen? She spoke about providing incentives to people in more rural areas, as opposed to those who lived in cities. Since the money to support such an incentive is a finite resource, has she carried out any work on that proposal or is she aware of any examples of where it has been done in other countries? Of course, this assumes it is legally possible to incentivise based on geography and dispersed rural communities, as opposed to incentivising the whole population.