Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

We are back to electric transport again. I refer to the Minister's target for 2020. He plans to have approximately 200,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020, some 10% of the car transport fleet. Will the Minister outline to the House how he envisages the ramping up of the sales figures of electric vehicles between now and 2020? The date is ten years away. The Minister has already stated he plans to have between 3,000 and 5,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by the end of 2012. That leaves more than 190,000 vehicles remaining to be sold in eight years. What is the plan or roadmap for the ramping up of sales of electric vehicles? When do we begin to get into serious numbers, or is the Minister leaving that to the marketplace?

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