Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I should have said that we will discuss this on Committee Stage. The joint committee did very useful and good work in its assessment of the climate Bill at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. I was very aware of those hearings yesterday which were very useful and interesting. I look forward to reading the committee's report on transport because in my mind it is the most challenging issue. In the next four to five months, I will seek to work on a collaborative basis with all Oireachtas parties on how we draft this plan.

The electric vehicle element is key. I do not accept that it is not working at present. The key restriction in terms of the roll-out of electric vehicles is the availability of vehicles from international suppliers. That is starting to change as a variety of different car companies start to provide electric vehicles options across their ranges. At the same time, we are using the carbon fund to invest in the ESB's fast-charging network.

We will continue to look at other legislative measures and other financial mechanisms to ensure we get the charging infrastructure to match what will be a very significant ramp-up in electric vehicles.

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