Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for being here. We are about to move into December. What does Mr. Cooke think next year might look like in respect of the electric vehicle market? I ask him to speak to some of the supply issues and what the situation might look like from January to July next year regarding advanced purchases and orders. Does he have an opinion concerning how the uptake of EVs in areas of high car dependency might be increased? I presume many sales of EVs occur in the Dublin and greater Dublin area and many other urban areas around the country. We have, though, and will continue to have, much higher car dependency in more rural areas as well, where we tend to see less of an uptake of EVs. Are there particular measures that Mr. Cooke would see as being beneficial in addressing that situation? In addition, could he elaborate on his point concerning the role of the State in the context of the EV fleet? The State has been poor in its own purchasing of EVs. I ask Mr. Cooke to expand on the point he made in his opening statement in that regard. I also ask him to reflect on the second-hand market. Is the case that he thinks it may be the back end of the decade before we see a real second-hand market for EVs?

Turning to Ms Sayers, what is the target for EV infrastructure? Approximately 1,800 charging points are in place now. I am not sure if they are all the ESB’s. Is the target approximately 30,000? I think I heard that figure mentioned previously. Does Ms Sayers have a sense of the breakdown in that regard between home and public chargers? From her presentation, it seemed to be the case that the ESB is reacting to demand as opposed to installing an infrastructure to induce demand. Does she have an opinion regarding the role of the State in oversight? In addition, does she have a timeline for the roll-out of infrastructure over the months and years to come?