Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy made some valid points in relation to looking at other areas. Preparations are under way to establish an office of low emissions vehicles. This office will play an important role in our transition to zero-emission vehicles and will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the roll-out of charge point infrastructure.

In the context of rural Ireland, we spoke about Connecting Ireland, which concerns a public transport system across rural Ireland, but we have to be realistic. We will not have public transport in every area of rural Ireland. It is not feasible. We know this clearly. We need to look at ways to help people to move to a more environmentally friendly vehicle. I would like to see the office of low emissions vehicle looking at that. The move to electric vehicles will be a critical part in emissions reduction.

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