Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was referring to the overall average. In County Laois, only 210 electric vehicles were purchased last year, while the figure for County Offaly was 167 and that of County Monaghan was low as well. I suggest we write to the Department of Transport to highlight the point. The difference between the number sold in Dublin compared with that in the more rural counties jumped out to me as well. Even the figure for County Cork, a very large county, is relatively low, with a total of fewer than 5,000.

If the committee agrees, we will write to the Department of Transport to ask about the cost of the subsidy and the fact that - this is not to penalise anyone in Dublin - it seems lopsided that the bulk of the funding and subsidies would go to the people who have the shortest journeys, while those who have the longest journeys are stuck with diesel or petrol. There is a total of 21,519 electric vehicles in Dublin, which is obviously good but the same is not happening throughout the country. If the committee agrees, we will write to the Department of Transport to seek figures on that. We need also to ask about the first point the Deputy made, regarding how the figures will be met. The average over the seven-year period, and particularly the increase over the final four years, as he pointed out, seems unachievable given the number of new-car sales in the State. Is that agreed?