Mr. Caoimhín Ó Ciaruáin:

I thank the Senator. Right now, in terms of that charging infrastructure we are in a good place. By 2030, we need to be a lot better. In terms of what we anticipate for the take-up of electric vehicles, we are looking at a target of having close to 1 million of these vehicles on the road. We have a good distance to go around that. What is in the AFIR is consistent with that level of take-up and we will need that. Right now, we are ahead of the curve in take-up. In the coming months, we will publish an infrastructure strategy setting out how we will get there.

The expectations in AFIR are focused clearly on public charging. One of the slightly different approaches Ireland has taken is around the promotion of home charging. This suits us with regard to policy approach as there are a lot more driveways in Ireland than in other member states. This is the approach we have taken and it works. There is very strong subsidisation of home charging. It works because it is cheaper to charge at night. All of that is good and we are pushing the Commission to accept that as an approach that works for Ireland. We are in a good place right now but there is a long way to go with it. There will continue to be supports available for it.