Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On a point of information: it is perfectly normal and good animal husbandry to cut banbhs' tails and to cut the tails off of terriers. That has to be done for the betterment of the animals. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will appreciate that bit of clarity.

With regard to the BIK measure, when the Government made the announcement a number of months ago, it created a great deal of upset among companies and the users of motor vehicles. The whole idea of what needs to happen in the future with regard to EVs is that it is very important that the whole ethos behind the benefit-in-kind scheme is kept in place, is sacrosanct, and that people will have the benefit of the scheme in the future, whether they are driving diesel, petrol, electric or hybrid cars. That is, what will be in the future is what was in the past.

I wish to highlight the issue of charging electric cars. Yesterday morning, I had a very important meeting with a very sound gentleman who informed me a great deal about the electric charging points and the installation of them in commercial businesses and as to what it would actually mean. In case anybody is in any doubt about this, if a person says tomorrow morning that he or she wants to install an electric charger, they must first have a very serious conversation with the ESB because the odds are that it might not actually be able to give the person what he or she requires. That is the first issue and is probably a point that has been completely missed by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

The second issue is the cost. It will cost the person who owns that business €42,000 to install a fast speed charger. That will take 40 minutes to charge one vehicle. Let us think about that for a minute. If a business has one charger at one location, and one vehicle comes up, it will take 40 minutes before another vehicle can be charged. The cost for the charging of that vehicle will be approximately €42. The person who owns the business and has gone to enormous expense to have the ESB upgrade his or her power supply so that he or she will be able to have this charger, which will have cost him or her €42,000, will get a minuscule amount from this, on which 50% or 60% tax will be paid on whatever couple of pence is made from this. This, again, is something which is of absolutely no importance to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications because why would simple facts like that matter to anybody? That would be of no bother to him or to anybody else in government.

I just wanted to highlight these simple straightforward facts to the Minister, which reflect the realities of charging EVs. There is a cost of €42,000 to the person who is providing the service, where a car parking space is taken up in that facility for 40 minutes, a minuscule amount paid over in profit, I will call it, to the person, who will then pay 50% tax on it. People have not thought this through at all yet. I really mean that.

I have put on the record of the Dáil the fact two motor cars, which had cost something like €160,000 between them, set off from Dublin heading to the great village of Sneem in County Kerry, and the two of them failed to make it in one trip without stopping and having to recharge, reboot and get going again.

I wanted to highlight those points to the Minister. This is not all that the Government cracks it up to be. It is like an awful lot of what we are talking about earlier on in respect of the solar panels where there are issues the Government had not thought about at all. I want to hear what the Minister will have to say by way of reply. I apologise as I have to leave for a committee meeting but I will hear what he says because in my absence I will get it later.

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