Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Sectoral Emissions Ceilings: Discussion

Photo of Brian LeddinBrian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Martin. I have a few more questions. Reference was made to EV uptake in a Dublin, with mention of a scheme in Hackney, London. I reiterate Senator Pauline O'Reilly's point that our city centres are where we do not want to see EVs being used, because there are other ways of getting around there. We should not be seeing it as a target or ambition that everybody living in the centre of Dublin, Limerick or our other cities should have an EV outside their front door. If we think like that, we are just going to clog our urban areas with cars. We need to be cautious about providing the infrastructure, including charging lamp posts. The streets in our villages and towns need to be prioritised not for on-street parking but for active and sustainable travel infrastructure. We need to be very careful about that.

We might say that the justifiable use for EVs is in rural areas where it is very difficult to provide public transport. There is huge potential to go beyond what is envisaged in Connecting Ireland. We have talked a number of times in this committee about the every village, every hour concept. In fact, provision needs to go beyond an every village, every hour target and also offer a service that is quick and reliable. I note that Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan was tweeting at the weekend about the Local Link service between Clonakilty and Kinsale. It was great to see him using it. We can roll out that kind of service in a cost-effective way right across the country and go way beyond the 70% coverage provided for under Connecting Ireland. In fact, what we should be trying to do is provide a service not just for people who cannot afford cars or electric vehicles but for everybody, in view of the emissions cost that is associated even with EVs.

I am glad to see support across the committee for really ramping up the ambition regarding taxation of larger, heavier and inefficient vehicles. Deputy Alan Farrell is very supportive of a big jump in taxes on those vehicles and I certainly agree with that. Has any study been done on the revenue that would be accrued from a ramping up of taxation in this regard? It is obscene that 55,000 of the vehicles put on the road last year were these huge tanks that are absolutely unnecessary. Some people and families might need them but the number is nothing like 55,000. Is there any analysis being done on the revenues that would arise from an increased taxation on those heavier, inefficient vehicles to fund a more universal rural public transport service?

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