Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

My first question is to Mr. Cooke and, unfortunately, I do not think he is going to be able to answer it. He referred to the cost and how it was a sensitive issue. I am looking at it from the perspective of his membership, who are all business people. They have three types of car on their forecourts: diesel, petrol and EVs. If someone comes in and says they want a new car, I imagine it would be more profitable for Mr. Cooke's members to say they have a diesel or petrol car rather than promoting the electric vehicle models. As Ms Sayers says, if it is 2024 to 2025 before the situation rebalances, what can be done in the meantime? I imagine his membership would find it very difficult to act against their own financial interests and to promote electric vehicles if they are going to see an ultimate reduction in their profit margins. I would be interested in a comment on that.

The next question is probably open to everyone. If we are trying to convince people to move to electric vehicles and e-bikes, which are an important part of the discussion and we have not focused enough on them, the majority of people have had no experience of electric vehicles or e-bikes, so how do we give them that experience? Would it be beneficial for the Government to take the lead on this and to have a touring test centre going around the country so that people could hop into a car or onto an e-bike and test it out for themselves and get a feel for it to see what it is like to drive?