Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

First, I welcome the commitment by the Spanish Presidency that this issue should be one of the key priorities for the European Union during its presidency. I also welcome the initial moves by the EU towards standardisation in respect of plugs, charging and so on. My concern is with the Government's lethargy in driving forward this agenda. I acknowledge the Minister agrees with me that this is a technology which can transform the transport sector in Ireland, can deal in a highly impressive way with an emissions problem in that sector and can act as an exciting new development for the energy sector, particularly with regard to dealing with intermittency issues pertaining to wind generation. Is the Minister satisfied that ESB Networks is doing enough in respect of its proposed pilot projects? My understanding from the Minister's reply on 26 January last is that ESB Networks intends to put in place 20 charging points as a national pilot project. How many charging points does the Minister envisage being installed during the six to 18 months timeframe in which ESB Networks is involved? Second, a number of months have passed since a memorandum of understanding was put in place with Renault-Nissan. What has been the result and how many cars can one expect will come into Ireland from that company? Does Ireland have the infrastructure to be able to facilitate this?

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