Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy said that this is the way the world is going and people would like to keep up with the trend if that was humanly possible, but we are talking about electric vehicles and electric charging points. In rural Ireland they are difficult to come by. If you left Gortduff, Goleen, Ardgroom or Sheep's Head this morning and made your way to Dublin, you would like to think there would be as many charging points in the rural areas as you see around Dublin and its surrounds. That is not the case. I accept that will change in time but it looks like it is changing rapidly in and around our cities, although not in our rural areas, to encourage people to use electric vehicles. They can be expensive if they want to keep up with grade of vehicle they already have. Community and sporting organisations in west Cork have contacted me to ask how much it would cost to put a charging point in their community grounds or sporting grounds. Some people feel there is a little benefit to be made for community, voluntary or sporting organisations that do so. It is a legitimate question. People who have fuel stations benefit slightly. Perhaps the Minister could clarify that. It is an area that we are a good few years away from making perfect, if it ever will be perfect.

The Minister must remember many years ago we were told that everyone should have diesel engines and by the time people caught up with that, things had moved on to electric so it is quite possible that when we this is fully rolled out that people will be told that electric is the wrong way to go. However, we will listen to the experts and hope they know what they are talking about. The problem is that people have such astronomical electricity bills in their houses at present, it is frightening to add to that by plugging in a car. We will be talking about our amendment which refers to how people in rural Ireland are travelling in petrol and diesel vehicles and states that most of them genuinely cannot purchase a new car. Very few second-hand electric cars are available so they are caught in a trap and that is where they will be for many years as they cannot afford to come out of that trap. They would like to and no matter how many grants the Government gave them, they would not be able to afford a new diesel or petrol car, never mind a new electric car. That needs to be addressed going forward. If the Government is going to remove the VAT reduction from fuel and put on more carbon tax and NORA tax and this tax and that tax, we are talking about 18 cent between now and six months from now. That is an astronomical jump for people who are trying to pay bills. It will lead to a huge additional cost in food delivery for hauliers and bus owners. Eighteen cent on the litre is a shocking amount of money for people to come up with. They simply cannot go electric at the moment because the infrastructure is not there. They cannot afford to purchase the vehicles. Many things prohibit people from using electric vehicles. Everyone likes to change and to keep up with the trend but at this time in their lives they cannot.

Public transport is a disaster in rural communities. There are many proposals and we are working. I am a volunteer member of West Cork Rural Transport. We are looking into doing a run from Ardgroom to Sheep's Head. I will welcome it when it happens. It is a great idea and it will run several times a day. However we must consider areas such as Clonakilty to Dunmanway and several other areas in west Cork. Mizen Head only has one bus leaving it in the morning and it does not come back until late in the evening. We are years behind in public transport. The Government needs a clear understanding. I cannot see any electric buses in west Cork. There are very few electric cars. Public transport is at an all-time low. There are a lot of promises. I often said if someone in west Cork had a euro for every promise, that would be a wealthy person. We need a little more than promises. We need delivery of those services. We need more frequent buses. People say that they might not be used but they certainly would be used if they were available. There is no public transport route from Goleen to Durrus to Bantry on any morning of the week. Areas like that need a proper service. The people in those communities have the same right to public transport as the people in Bray or Dublin who get a service every two to three minutes.

We are light years behind in relation to public transport and electric vehicle charging points in rural areas. I am not against electric vehicle charging points and I ask the Minister to clarify how community groups and sporting groups can have them installed. How can they do this? Can it be fast-tracked? They will be grant-aided but maybe they could make a tiny profit from it as well because these will be plugged into their electricity supply. These are things that could help going forward. I would certainly support that but for now, we have to deal with what have to deal with, which is the fact that the only way for people in the communities I represent to travel is by car but 99% of them cannot afford electric vehicles at this point in time. Many are running cars with older petrol and diesel engines. Often the cars are in immaculate condition because they are subject to the NCT. People are running older cars because they do not have the finances to do differently and anybody who says otherwise is in a different type of constituency from mine or else he or she can well afford to buy an electric vehicle.

I ask the Minister to clarify for the people of my constituency what his plans are in this regard. Where are the finances going to be put, going forward, in relation to both public transport and roads? The roads are in an appalling condition in west Cork. People are absolutely furious about that and are asking me, as a public representative, why we cannot deliver a proper road service, never mind worrying about electric vehicles and how they might survive on these roads.

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