Professor Hannah Daly:

I am happy to take a few of those questions. I would not like to frame my contribution as SUV bashing. I would advocate a more efficient transport system that is safer for vulnerable road users in particular. In general, I agree with the Deputy's comments that EVs are the future of passenger cars and are reliable and increasingly affordable. EV sales are growing exponentially. They grew by about 60% so far this year relative to last year, which is a very positive trend, but the growth in sales is slowing down. Before the cutting of the grant, it was something like 80% to 100% growth every year. This is an observation rather than tying the change to the cutting of the grant. The grant was cut along with increasingly more affordable lower cost EV models coming on stream. There are valid distributional concerns about continuing to subsidise new vehicles. While the carbon tax, to which people who drive fossil fuel cars are subject, is increasing, and given that we want to strike a balance between carrots and sticks, I do not think it would be valid to increase the grant again but we must cut fossil fuel car sales as quickly as possible. Again, to reinforce my statement, it is not so much about rolling out more EVs; it is about cutting new fossil fuel car sales and their use.

This is why putting a tax on the upfront cost of new fossil fuel cars is more effective than meeting our carbon budgets. Once a new fossil fuel car enters the market, it is going to emit dozens of tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, well into the third and maybe the fourth carbon budget period. Anecdotally, the slow roll-out of the fast-charging network is a barrier to the uptake of EVs. People still think that the lack of such a network, or the poor charging network, is a barrier. Most people will charge at home but it is still very important for people who take long journeys to have access to a reliable charging network. I agree with the Deputy that EVs will have a big impact on rural transport.

Deputy O'Sullivan also asked about the cost of EVs versus SUVs. The average new car bought in Ireland costs around €40,000 - I do not have the latest information there - but there are EVs on the market that will do more than 400 km on a single charge which cost around €30,000. While you are not going to get a large luxury seven-seater EV for that, it is well within the budget of most people who buy new cars to buy an electric car. They might have a preference for a larger, higher, more luxury brand but cost is not such a major barrier. However, availability of electric cars on the second-hand car market is a real barrier to their affordability for the majority of people. That is something that can only be addressed by increasing new car sales now and in the second-hand car market.

As a segue, and something I did not cover in my initial statement, we also need to be very mindful of used car imports. Right now, almost all used car imports are fossil fuel vehicles. There is a missing piece there on incentivising the import of second-hand EVs and targeting the wait for second-hand imports, which mainly come from the UK.

The final question was on renewables. It is true that as electricity decarbonises, additional demand on electricity from electric cars, as well as heat pumps and other sources of electricity demand, becomes less impactful on CO2 emissions. As the power sector is already struggling to reduce its emissions while growing demand significantly, any additional demand creates more emissions or else will strain renewables deployment. As I said, the difference between EVs becoming more efficient and smaller versus EVs continuing to grow in weight and becoming less energy-efficient will consume 200 MW of wind capacity in 2030 or else it will increase emissions. It is very important to electrify transport but at the same time to do it as efficiently as possible.