Ms Laura Behan:

On when we might transition to fully zero-emission buses within the urban transport fleet and the potential costs that will arise, we understand the importance of the transition to zero-emission and low-emission buses, primarily because of the leadership role it provides to ease the low-emission vehicle transition. Buses do not generate a large volume of transport emissions. We would not, therefore, make the transition solely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and there is a strong leadership aspect. Accordingly, we committed in the national development plan to not buying any more diesel-only buses from July this year.

The next phase will be the low-emission part, namely, the transition to hybrid vehicles we are undertaking. The tender process for that is under way and we can expect to see early in the new year the first hybrid technologies. While nine hybrid buses are already on the streets of Dublin, the larger-scale contract, which will provide for the next few years of bus buying, will be signed soon and we will see the buses on the streets of Dublin not long afterwards.

The technology to move to full zero emissions is a more interesting question, and there is much to take into consideration when making a final determination about which technology we will use when we move to full zero emissions. Our two main options in that regard will most likely be full battery electric vehicles for buses or hydrogen. We have to take into account the cost of the buses and how soon we expect it to fall as the technology and manufacturing improve. There are also service considerations, given that it is difficult to introduce fully electric buses on especially long routes, which we have, and in the case of double-deck technology, which is not yet widely available. Currently, there is limited production of full zero-emission double-deck buses, not least in right-hand drive vehicles.

We have assembled a range of evidence on the issue over the past year. We have run a bus trial, commissioned a full-scale assessment of all the various technologies in both a Dublin and Cork context to understand how they work on those cities' streets and routes. We also have a paper on alternative fuels in the bus fleets out for public consultation, as part of the wider public transport and sustainable mobility consultation. That is under way and we expect to get some evidence back from that. We are anxious to ensure that the medium-term pathway will be determined as quickly as possible in order that we can move from this phase of hybrid buying to the zero-emission technology. We will seek to publish a pathway early in the new year and will then be better able to give a timeline of when the full zero-emission technology might be available in Dublin.