Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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128. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if persons can avail of cable protectors in order to charge electric vehicles parked on-street from their homes in cases in which the cable runs over a small section of public pavement. [11324/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Home charging is considered the primary method of charging for the majority of electric vehicles (EVs) in Ireland and is a convenient, cost effective and environmentally-friendly means of charging, especially when using night-rate electricity. It accounts for about 80% of EV charging sessions and will continue to be the primary method of charging in the future.

The EV Home Charger Grant Scheme has been in operation since January 2018 to support the installation of home chargers by purchasers of new and second-hand BEVs and PHEVs. The grant provides generous support towards the full cost of installation of a home charger up to a maximum of €600.

Currently there are no proposals to provide assistance for the provision of cable protectors. People charging electric vehicles by running cables (whether cable protected or not) across public footpaths should be aware that their local authority may have bye-laws governing the use, operation, protection, regulation or management of footways.

A Public Charge Point Scheme has been in place since September 2019 and will continue to be available during 2021 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support 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.