Written answers

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Electric Vehicles

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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507. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the way in which persons in counties Sligo and Leitrim can be expected to consider changing from diesel and petrol vehicles to electric vehicles in view of the limited number of working charging points available in the north west region together with the ESB's stated inability (details supplied) to repair and fix its charging units which it has introduced under the pilot scheme that are now no longer working to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13910/18]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The vast majority of EV charging happens at home, which aligns with both technology and patterns of use of vehicles. In terms of the number and extent of publicly accessible charging, the National Policy Framework on the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport in Ireland: 2017 to 2030 notes that Ireland’s current EV charging network infrastructure is ahead of current market demand.  However, it is recognised that the future development of the EV public charging does need to progress alongside the growth of electric vehicles.

The existing fleet of public chargers was rolled out by the ESB, through its eCars programme, and there are approximately 900 EV charge points in Ireland of which circa 70 are rapid chargers.  A map showing the charge points, including the status and availability of the charge points, is available on the ESB's website at www.esb.ie/ecars. The operation and repair of these charge points are operational matters for the ESB.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities published its independent regulatory decision in relation to the future ownership of the EV charging infrastructure in October 2017, determining that in keeping with EU provisions, the charging network should not form part of the regulated asset base and therefore expansions of the network should not be funded from network charges.The decision  envisages the continued ownership of the charging network by ESB Networks for a transitional period of up to ten years, ensuring no short to medium term impact on the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and allows the ESB to continue to provide electric vehicle charging across Ireland.

The decision also set out the need for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure to operate on a commercial basis.In the absence of State-led support, this is unlikely to happen in the near term.  Funding has, therefore, been allocated in my Department's budget this year to support the provision of public charging, with a particular focus on increasing the number of rapid chargers on key national routes.

To support home charging, I introduced the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant scheme this year. This Scheme, which came into operation on 1 January 2018, supports the cost of installing a home charger up to a maximum of €600 for buyers of both new and second-hand EVs.

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