Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. The Minister has outlined some of the progress and indicated that there are 668 ESB charging points. He further stated that his Department had provided a €10 million grant to the ESB. The Minister said there will be private charging points such as those which employers with more than 20 car spaces will be required to provide by 2020. While that will cater for a lot of it, there is a need to create a network nationally which is more substantial and strategically located. For people travelling from the west, south or even midlands, the question of range is always at issue, in particular when one's lights and window wipers are going at the same time as everything else. I ask about the policy direction on the ownership of the network. From where is the policy that the ESB must divest itself of the network coming? Is it the Department? Charging is not like refuelling a diesel or petrol car, it is a major investment. There is also the matter of upgrading the grid as wider ownership of electric vehicles will place a strain on it.

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