Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Additional Government policy is needed to encourage the use of electric vehicles. One of the principles in the Government's own EV charging infrastructure strategy is that for the majority of EV users, home charging will be the main solution. However, in new, more densely populated housing areas in my constituency such as the Adamstown strategic development zone, the SDZ in Clonburris, parts of Newcastle, City West, Saggart, Rathcoole and Palmerstown and in fact, in any modern urban or suburban housing development, this principle is not being adhered to.

In fact, home charging is being actively discouraged due to a lack of support for underground cabling installation. This also means the Dublin local authority EV charging strategy is not currently fit for purpose.

We need a legal mechanism to force management companies, especially those in apartment blocks, to proactively facilitate residents who wish to charge their vehicles using their own domestic tariffs. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, apartment charging grant provides an 80% subsidy towards works to facilitate home charging in apartment car parks. However, it has not been backed up by legislation. In many cases, management companies do not have the interest or guidelines to facilitate it. We need an amnesty for those who have proper underground cables installed to charge points near their homes and are then told they must remove them. There must be a new policy to permit licensed chargers to be erected or retrospectively applied for in order that homeowners whose parking spaces are on the far side of a footpath, for example, can erect a charge point so long as it does not cause an obstruction.

We also need to cater for other residents. By this I do not mean the provision of commercial chargers on the streets. In Adamstown, an array of on-street chargers near Shackleton have been out of order for about a month. The company that owns them, EC Charging, has not bothered to get back to me on this issue, which does not inspire confidence. These types of chargers will not cost the same as a home charger. They are only suited to people using nearby sports facilities or visiting relatives. This is not the solution. We need a hybrid on-street model to fill the remaining gaps. What could help - I am sure the technology exists - is subsidised chargers, either stand-alone or at lamp posts, that allow users to charge using their own home tariff with a login password or fob. Policy guidelines could be put together in a matter of weeks. Laws could be enacted in a matter of months.

I hope the Minister and his colleagues will take this on board. There is a lot of misinformation about EVs, including regarding how quickly their charge dies and that they cause more pollution, which they do not. In fact, EVs reduce overall carbon emissions and emit less on-street pollution. We must continue to encourage EV usage. The newer areas are the leaders in this field but they are, in effect, being penalised.

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