Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss this matter, which is one that people are starting to raise. Constituents have been approaching me about it in the past month or two. I work on the basis of, if constituents approach me about an issue, then it is an issue that requires addressing. The Minister is committed to this matter. I understand that there are approximately 1,200 charge points North and South, with 300 in the former. Eighty-five of the 1,200 are fast-charging points, with 70 in the Republic and 15 in the North.

I am raising the matter of fast-charging points on foot of a situation about which a constituent approached me. He has an electric car and drives to Dublin frequently. A fully charged electric car will do somewhere between 180 km and 200 km. He has to stop at junction 14, which he says supplies a great 20-minute service.

Other people have approached me, including someone with a forecourt garage. That person applied to get a fast-charging point through the garage's supplier but, for some reason, the supplier was turned down.

While I welcome the low-emissions vehicle task force that the Minister has established, what are his plans to expedite the roll-out of fast-charging points the length and breadth of Ireland? There is no reason for one of them not to be in a village or town. It should not be the case that such points would only be deployed at specific locations. The 70 in the Republic and 15 in the North are too few. In the UK, the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill 2017-19 has just been published. It will make it compulsory for charge points to be installed in all UK filling stations.

All of this shows how much the issue of electric cars has advanced. The Minister might explain his plans for expediting the roll-out of a comprehensive national network of fast-charging points for electric cars.