Results 3,281-3,300 of 10,790 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: It sounds to me like the same mistakes are going to be repeated.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: I know that, but Dr. Byrne cited Covid as the reason. I am asking in what way Covid played a part. Was it that individuals were contacting the SEAI and saying they did not want the work carried out? Was it that contractors were refusing to carry out the work? Was it a direction by the SEAI that the work not be carried out?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: How many cases like that were there? Let us just deal with the specifics. How many deferred?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: Mr. Halpin is saying that for 12 to 14 months this scheme was suspended.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: For 12 to 14 months, work was not being done under this scheme.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: That is even though Government restrictions at the time permitted this work to continue.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: For 12 to 14 months.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: What was happening to all the workers during those periods of time? Were they furloughed?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: I mean in respect of periods where the contractors were not doing any work.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: There was no mechanism there. I will come in again later.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: In respect of the Covid issue, it would be very useful if the SEAI could provide the committee with a full breakdown of the delays that were attributed to Covid and the various reasons for same. On electric vehicles, the SEAI told us last year it believed there was a demand for at least 50,000 EVs. How many were actually sold?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: That is not the question I asked. I asked how many EVs were sold last year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: Okay, so if that is 50% then approximately 20,000 EVs were sold in total last year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: Either figure is a fair stretch from the 50,000 that the SEAI estimated there was a demand for last year. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: What will it be this year?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: The target for 2025 was 175,000 EVs. Is that achievable?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: Last year the figure the SEAI gave us for EVs on the road was 55,000. This year there are 77,000 so that would fit in with the 20,000 figure. We are talking about a target date of 2025 but we are one quarter of the way through 2023 at this stage. It would require a sea change which we were told over the past two years was coming next year. Do we have any evidence to suggest it is actually...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: What number of EVs do we expect to be sold this year?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: That is still less than the 50,000 that we expected last year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion (9 Mar 2023)

Matt Carthy: The numbers are accumulating every year. Are we assuming that all of the 77,000 cars that are on the road now will still be on the road in 2025, that none of them will be written off or taken off the road for whatever reason? What percentage of those 77,000, some of which are several years old, does the SEAI expect to still be on the road in 2025?