Mr. Declan Meally:

With regard to the cost of vehicles and the grant, prices are coming down all the time in terms of what we are seeing on it. There have naturally been some supply chain issues in terms of demand, obviously, with Covid-19, but also impacts in terms of semiconductors and some activity that is required for those cars that have kept the supply chain at bay.

We have seen that the issue people had originally when they were trying to make a decision was that the ranges were not there on the cars. The ranges are there now. The cars can do 400 km and 500 km. We say to people who are making those decisions now to do the maths on the cars. When someone takes in the total cost of ownership of a petrol or diesel car versus an electric car, it is much cheaper to run and own an electric car compared to a petrol or diesel car over ten years. The fuel prices at the moment make it even more of an economic benefit to actually buy and own a car. If we look at the deals that are available through dealerships in terms of monthly payments on a new car plus the running costs of an electric car, which are actually minuscule in comparison to a petrol or diesel car, the overall total cost of ownership is actually less. That is affordable for anybody who is looking at the cars right across the board. There are cars that are now €20,000 to €25,000, and that can actually be achieved-----