Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

No one in this country has an issue with fossil fuels transitioning out but the part we have to look at is transition and supports for doing so. They are not there. There are no supports. If you look at the energy situation here, people have put up solar panels on their houses, which is great, but the infrastructure cannot take more than 6 kW even though a person could provide 20 kW from their house and they may only use 12 kW to 16 kW. It can be up to 16 kW with underfloor heating. The grid cannot take it. Infrastructure is key. The Government wants people to use electric vehicles. The average car is from between 2010 and 2016. People can barely afford a car from between 2010 and 2016 but they are being pushed towards electric cars. The highest number of second-hand cars for sale in the UK are EVs that cannot be sold. Four-year-old EVs cannot be sold in the UK and are sitting in garages. The Government is pressuring people who are trying to feed their families, pay their mortgages and put food on the table. It is trying to force people who can only afford vehicles from between 2010 and 2016 to go to EVs. Support and transition are needed, not guillotining something and saying it has to happen today. COP28 is a cop-out because the person out there went on live television and said communities should share 30 vehicles. That is who is representing us. There is no cop on.

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