Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I recall being in County Kerry some time ago, visiting Dingle. I told my wife that I had always wanted to drive the Ring of Kerry. I set my satnav and started driving. I drove for a while and the satnav instructed me to take the next left. I took the next left and continued on. The road started to get narrower and narrower until there was grass in the middle of it. I wondered how a bus would get around the area, because it was crazy. I was thinking, as I was driving in my internal combustion car, how I would feel if I was in an electric car. I was in the middle of nowhere. I kept reassuring my lady wife that it was all right and I knew where I was going. I did not have a clue if I was ever going to get out of the place. I have difficulty with the idea of using EVs in rural Ireland.

I want to raise a few issues. My colleague Senator Buttimer mentioned that in 2009, we were told by the Government to go out and buy diesel cars because it was the only way to live. God help us, but so many families have been stuck with diesel cars that they cannot get rid of because it was the wrong decision to make. Right now, we are in a transition period in respect of energy. We are talking about EVs today. We could be talking about hydrogen vehicles tomorrow. Who knows what other technology is coming along? I am a bit concerned about the amount of money that we are putting into the infrastructure. We may learn, at some stage in the future, that we have gone in the wrong direction and we should have gone down the hydrogen route or somewhere else. In my own driving experience, I have moved from petrol to liquified petroleum gas, LPG; from LPG to diesel; from diesel back to LPG; and from LPG back to petrol. I have learned that if you drive slowly and carefully, you can save quite a lot of money. That comes with age. I am a little concerned that we might be heading in the wrong direction.

There is another issue that I am concerned about, and I would be interested in hearing the witnesses' views on it. How ethical is the mining of the raw material for the batteries of EVs? It is all very well for me to get into my big 4x4 EV in Dublin, the manufacturing of which probably emitted as much carbon as would be emitted twice in the lifetime of the vehicle itself. However, if the battery came from children mining in darkest Africa, where are we going with saving the planet? Are we saving the planet at the cost of thousands of lives in these places? That is one of the areas that I would like to touch upon.

I will mention another area I would like to touch on. I have been living a bachelor's life for the last two weeks because my wife and daughter have Covid, so I am living in my son's house. The hot water system is heated by solar panels. It is absolutely fantastic. I have never had such hot water that is available at all times. Is there any chance we could use solar panels to charge our cars at home? Would that require some retrofitting to be done to homes?

The witnesses mentioned night rates. In County Louth, very interesting work is being done by EnergyCloud at the moment. It is very innovative. Energy that is generated at night, which is of no value to anybody to heat water in houses, is used.

Going back to the cost of charging EVs, I am interested in the figure of €10 per 400 km. I have two relations who switched to EVs recently. They are both complaining that their ESB bills are through the roof. I am not sure how they are being charged. Perhaps Mr. Meally knows whether there is an opportunity to expand the work of EnergyCloud into vehicle charging. I will leave it at that for the moment.