Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know the Deputy's commitment to the climate agenda, having heard her raise it on many occasions in this House. This is about a transition model. Ireland is fully committed to meeting our climate goals and a key part of that involves the decarbonisation of transport and the large-scale transition to electric vehicles. The Deputy was quite right to highlight the announcement by the Government this week relating to the electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy and the additional work being done in that regard.

There are challenges in this transition for people living in rural areas but also for people in urban areas, many of whom travel from Dublin to locations throughout Ireland to do various work as part of their company obligations. The Deputy was correct to highlight the EV charging network in that context. What is being attempted here is a transition away from the electric vehicle exemption, introduced in the Finance Act 2017. That has been extended to 2025, recognising the changes introduced in last year's budget. Significant discounts are available through that scheme and I can provide the Deputy with a note on that.

This matter was legislated for in 2019 and there was a signalling of the lead-in time. We have taken additional steps to extend other benefits to try to find that balance and transition that she mentioned. We must collectively make the necessary changes to move to a decarbonised transport system and this is a big part of that, bringing one of the vehicle taxation measures into line with our other vehicle taxation measures. It has had a significant lead-in time and I appreciate the practical difficulties it raises for the Deputy's constructions and those of other Deputies during the transition. If she would like me to look in more detail at a specific case, I will be more than happy to do so.

See this speech in context