Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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33. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the county councils that have applied for the electric vehicle public charge point grant; the reasons for the low uptake of the grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29693/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Public Charge Point Scheme has been in place since September 2019 to provide funding to local authorities for the development of on-street public chargers. The primary focus of this scheme is to provide support for the installation of infrastructure which will facilitate owners of EVs, who do not have access to a private parking space but rely on parking their vehicles in public places near their homes, to charge their EVs.

My Department, via the SEAI, currently provides a grant of up to €5,000 to support the installation of these charge points and this support will continue into 2021. Since the launch of the scheme, the SEAI has received requests from twelve local authorities for applications under the scheme with two local authorities submitting applications, which are currently being assessed for approval, to install a total of 24 charge points within their respective jurisdictions. In addition, the four Dublin local authorities are examining their approach for a network of charging infrastructure in the metropolitan area.

Local Government has been to the forefront in recent times in addressing the climate challenge and the sector will have a key role to play in helping to decarbonise our national fleet through facilitating the provision of EV charging infrastructure in appropriate locations at both the local and regional level.

In this regard it should be noted that my Department is working closely with a number of key stakeholders, including Local Government, on developing a strategy to ensure electric vehicle charging infrastructure stays ahead of demand. This includes developing appropriate guidance for local authorities in line with the Programme for Government and will ensure we can continue to expand our national charging network through the relevant SEAI supports for on street chargers.

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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34. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will investigate the existing grants that are available to assist in purchasing electric commercial vehicles through SEAI in view of the fact this only applies to vehicles such as vans; and if it has been considered to expand this to include cars for commercial use. [30103/20]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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41. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the incentives being designed to encourage greater commercial uptake of electric vehicles in the private and public sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29943/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 41 together.

My Department currently provides a generous range of supports available through the SEAI to support the purchase of electric vehicles and related charging infrastructure. The priority of the Government, at this time, is to target supports where they can have the most effect in aiding Ireland's transition to a low carbon economy.

In order to qualify for the electric vehicle purchase grant, the electric vehicle must be classified as M1 (private passenger vehicle) or N1 (light commercial vehicle). Commercial Grants for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the M1 class were discontinued last year. While the Department continues to review the EV support schemes on an on-going basis there are no plans currently to reinstate this grant.

It should be noted that there is a generous benefit-in-kind tax relief available to support the purchase of battery electric vehicles by businesses. Other incentives available include:

- motor tax of €120 for battery electric vehicles;

- a discount on tolls of 50% for battery electric vehicles and 25% for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (up to a maximum amount of €500 per year with greater reductions off-peak on the M50); and

- grants of up to €12,500 to support the purchase of electric vehicles in the taxi/hackney/limousine sector.

More information is available at .www.drivingelectric.ie.