Mr. John Martin:

I will start with some commentary on public transport and active travel, which the Deputy referred to and is a very important issue. Then I will pass the EV taxation issues and the charging infrastructure questions to my colleague, Ms O'Grady.

In terms of public transport, the fare reduction has been an important step forward. We have yet to see the full impact of that in additional take-up of public transport as a result, but that may come through in time. It certainly has not been immediate. Notwithstanding that, it is certainly something we would be keen to see continuing, and we are looking into continuing it on an ongoing basis. Anything we can do to get people out of their cars and into public transport, including fare reductions, is a good thing. However, it is not all about price. It is also about improving infrastructure, improving service, improving reliability and improving frequency. These are all things we are examining through a range of projects such as the DART+, MetroLink, BusConnects and Connecting Ireland initiatives.

In respect of active travel, there are just over 1,000 active travel projects under way across the country which are funded by the Department through the NTA. As the Deputy said, some local authorities are pushing ahead to get those rolled out, while in other local authority jurisdictions the progress is slower. It has to be noted, however, that this is not a question of funding or, indeed, of a local authority's ambition to roll this out. As many people do not want this stuff to be implemented as do want the projects to be implemented. We see with increasing regularity that there are well-mobilised opposition groups, social media campaigns and so forth opposing the roll-out of these types of projects. We have to work hard to communicate the benefits of these not just in terms of carbon abatement but also in terms of the quality of life issues and the well-being of cities, towns and communities by implementing them.

Unfortunately, however, there is an issue where some of these are challenged during the planning process. They are subject to judicial review. We have seen that on our own doorsteps. While I acknowledge that there is good ambition and funding - there is €360 million per annum for active travel projects and there is an ambition within the local authorities to implement them – there are also obstacles. We are hoping that, through better communication and better stakeholder engagement, as well as through a review of the existing planning framework being undertaken by the Attorney General this year, we may see more improved take-up or rolling out of active travel infrastructure over the coming years. It is definitely a key part of all of this.

On budgets, the NTA will administer just under €290 million this year. I do not have the figures on expenditure, but my understanding is that it is - subject to some of the difficulties that I highlighted - on track. On expenditure in previous years, I do not have the figures to hand. If we need to get those to the committee, we can certainly provide them.

Before I hand over to Dr. O’Grady to discuss EV incentivisation and EV charging infrastructure , I would certainly say that I support the Deputy's view that there is much to be gained by trying to put as much active travel and cycleway infrastructure out as possible, be it through the NTA's active travel programme or Transport Infrastructure Ireland's greenways programme. The Department is 100% committed to that.