Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Reduction of Carbon Emissions of 51% by 2030: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Brian LeddinBrian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for coming to speak with us about EVs and how we might set policy appropriately in order that we might reach our targets or even set appropriate targets. They all made strong statements along the lines that EVs are only one part of the solution. I was heartened to hear those statements that we need to think about reducing our number of journeys with a modal shift to improving active travel networks, investing in public transport and so on. I thank them for making those statements.

Not all EVs are the same. Our policy needs to recognise a good EV versus a not-so-good EV in respect of greenhouse gas emissions and other issues and impacts on society. In that regard, perhaps the witnesses could elaborate on incentives for light EVs and physically smaller EVs versus, for instance, the heavier and larger ones. That is where we need to go. It would be a severely missed opportunity if we treated all electric vehicles the same and ended up with large SUV-type cars clogging our roads, notwithstanding the benefits they might bring in greenhouse gas emissions.

Similarly, we could bluntly incentivise EVs and say we want 1 million EVs on our roads by 2030. A total of 1 million EVs sitting in driveways in Dublin, however, are not going give us the emissions cuts that one million EVS spread out in a dispersed fashion around the country would. I am interested to hear about policy measures that can, perhaps, target that rural need versus the urban need. Members will recall Mr. Andrew Murphy of Transport and Environment, who has since joined our Climate Change Advisory Council. He more or less said that we should not have private cars in our towns and cities and that EVs are a solution for outside our urban areas. I am interested in the views of the witnesses on that.

Finally, Dr. Daly made an important point, which was that this should not be about maximising the transition to EVs but minimising the sale of fossil fuel vehicles. It seems that we need to do that rapidly and urgently. The fossil fuel vehicles that are sold now are going to lock in emissions for eight or nine years when we are trying to have more than a 50% reduction in transport emissions. I would, therefore, be interested to hear more from our witnesses on how we should curb the sale of fossil fuel vehicles quickly and early.

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