Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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1203. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the roll-out of electric vehicle charge points in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19106/19]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1211. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the locations of the high power charging hubs for electric cars (details supplied) in counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18509/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1203 and 1211 together.

Providing adequate charging infrastructure is critical to ensure continued growth in electric vehicles.

Home charging is the most cost-effective way to charge an electric vehicle and is the primary method of charging for the majority of electric vehicles both internationally and in Ireland. A Government grant of up to €600 is available, via the SEAI, to the purchasers of new and second-hand electric vehicles to support the installation of home chargers.

There are currently over 650 standard public charge points and 78 fast chargers as a part of the ESB eCars network. A map showing these charge points, including their status and availability, is available on the ESB's website at . In addition there are public chargers provided by local authorities, retail outlets and private companies.

Under the first call for applications from the Climate Action Fund, I approved funding of up to €10 million to support ESB eCars to develop a nationwide, state-of-the-art electric vehicle fast charging network. This project successfully completed the assessment stage and the validation stage is now underway. The project includes the installation of 90 high-power chargers each of which will be capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously, upgrading 50 existing standard chargers to fast chargers and replacing over 250 existing standard chargers with next generation high reliability models. This is a multi-annual project and is expected to be fully completed by 2022.

The locations of the chargers has not been finalised. However, a provisional map of the planned network, showing indicative locations, was developed by ESB eCars and has been published on my Department’s website. ESB eCars is currently identifying the most appropriate locations for the chargers to be sited. The sites will be identified using the latest software mapping techniques, taking account of information on current charge point usage, traffic volume, accessibility, amenities and grid capacity at the sites.

My Department, in conjunction with the SEAI, is also working on how best to support the provision of greater levels of on-street public charging.