Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. There are some encouraging points. Realistically, the current scheme for reducing larger vehicle numbers is not working. Sales of sports utility vehicles, SUVs, are going through the roof. SUVs emit more pollution. They are more likely to hit pedestrians and are more likely to cause serious injury. We need to curb the sales of SUVs, especially in built-up areas. Other jurisdictions are looking at this. Authorities in Washington DC want to charge residents more for heavy trucks and SUVs, including for all the reasons that the Minister of State mentioned, such as particulates. That is a perfect example of why electric cars are not the panacea we think they are. There has been much talk in here tonight about encouraging people to use public transport. There has been a lot of strong support for public transport, the measures to cut fares and to incentivise public transport. We need a carrot and a stick. We need to get serious about the ever-growing size of SUVs and do something that actually works to reduce them, while also continuing with the carrot of public transport, which we have all supported this evening.

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