Mr. Brian Cooke:

There is a behavioural piece where early adopters are quick to come to the market. We probably exhausted that cohort so we need to get into the early mass market, and they need more convincing. There was a lot of misinformation out there about electric vehicles, information about batteries and climate impact that were actually incorrect. The Irish media have taken a much more balanced and responsible approach to it than the media in the UK, say, or other markets. That was one thing. There was also a reduction in the grant, which went from €5,000 to €3,500. It was not so much the numerical amount but more the signal that perhaps we are not as committed to the climate issues. In 2023 there was also a backlog of sales from 2021 and 2022, partly due to supply issues, that probably increased the 2023 market. It probably would have been flat, if we look at the two years together. We are definitely going in the right direction. The dynamics that existed last year are not there at the moment.