Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My apologies to the witnesses. Like Deputy O'Sullivan, I was also in the Chamber, so I missed the first section and the opening statements. I have some questions. I apologise if they repeat my colleagues' questions. This question is probably specifically for the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. Regarding the electronic vehicles and the supply chain, what level of supply is there for second-hand or used electric vehicles? Is there a good supply chain into Ireland given Brexit and all the challenges it has posed to the economy and to the country?

My second question is about the need for more electric charging points, whether at garages or on street. The witnesses mentioned that some local authorities are better than others. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is good and proactive. Maybe this is more a question for ESB. I am thinking about public lighting doubling as a charging point. I am sure there is an additional cost to such infrastructure but it is about being imaginative in our public spaces to transform the available charging points automatically and quite easily. One of people's biggest causes for hesitation when buying electric vehicles is whether charging points will be available on their journey. Documentaries often show charging points in garages being in use when people pull up, which delays their journey. It is all about efficiency. The witnesses might address what can be improved about the infrastructure for charging points, both from a local authority and an industry point of view.

My third question is on car and bike-sharing schemes. One regression in Dublin was when four local authorities all had individual tenders for a shared bike scheme. There is no uniformity for car-sharing schemes either. There might be one car-sharing scheme in one local authority in the greater Dublin area compared with another local authority. It is not so bad for cars but it is problematic for bike-sharing schemes. I thought it would have been better to have an all-of-Dublin contract, like the bike scheme to which Dr. Ó Tuama and others referred, across all the Dublin local authorities to ensure there was uniformity and ease of use to encourage people to use them for whatever reason, whether it is because they do not have storage for bikes or it is more convenient for them. Those are my questions. If there is any need for clarity, people might come back to me.