Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Carbon Tax: Discussion
Mr. Matthew Collins:
The transport sector is a really important and challenging one. A mixture of regulatory steps, taxation and subsidy policies are being implemented there. Over time, the expectations from the global analysis is that the cost of purchasing and operating electric vehicles, EVs, will come down to the same level as an internal combustion engine. They are cheaper to operate at present but the challenge is the buying costs at the moment. The reason we already have subsidies in place is to help reduce the differential pricing between an electric vehicle and one with an internal combustion engine. We intend to continue to work on that.