Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)

I thank the Deputy very much for the question. The Government is fully committed to tackling climate action with practical, innovative solutions that support our economy, communities and future generations. Promoting EVs is a central pillar of our strategy to reduce transport emissions, along with proposals to increase the use of active travel and public transport, reduce overall car usage and increase the mix of sustainable biofuels in the petrol and diesel fuel blends. Having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to EVs. While over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home, there is an absolute need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible.

The regional and local EV charging network plan was launched in April this year and sets targets and strategies for local authorities to drive EV infrastructure development at destination and neighbourhood locations, with Government support. This plan will help deliver the charging infrastructure people need, where they need it, at home, on the road and at key destinations and neighbourhoods across communities.

The shared island funded sports club EV charging infrastructure scheme was officially launched in February 2023 with an allocation of €15 million. The aim of the scheme is to install a network of publicly accessible chargers in communities throughout the country, through their local sports clubs. The scheme was advertised both generally and through recognised national governing bodies for individual sports. Over 220 clubs across the island met the eligibility criteria to continue to the next phase. The next phase has been to procure charge point operators to undertake the works required. This is well advanced and announcements on this will be made in the coming weeks. This will enable sports clubs to engage with the selected CPOs to agree on works to be done and commence the draw-down of the funding.

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