Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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426. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to assist companies to replace their car fleet at the earliest possible date given that it has been established that by removing all cars in excess of 15 years old off the roads it will deliver 20% reduction in emissions from cars by 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20297/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that there is a range of incentives place to support the uptake of EVs, including commercial vehicles. These include:

- EV Purchase grant scheme (vans and light trucks up to €3,800);

- Home Charger grant scheme - up to a maximum of €600

- VRT relief of up to €5,000 for the purchase of BEVs and up to €2,500 for PHEVs;

- Benefit-in-Kind tax relief for battery electric vehicles;

- Grants of up to €20,000 to support the purchase of electric vehicles in the taxi/hackney/limousine sector, with the highest level of grant available where older taxis are being scrapped;

- Accelerated Capital Allowances for businesses;

- Low rate of annual motor tax; and

- Tolling reductions of 50% for battery electric vehicles and 25% for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

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

My Department is also working closely with a number of key stakeholders, including Local Government, to ensure electric vehicle charging infrastructure stays ahead of demand.

The Electric Vehicle Policy Pathway Working Group was convened to produce a roadmap to achieving the near one million EV target by 2030 and to continue the concerted efforts across several Departments to hasten the current trajectory of EV sales, including commercial sales. The Working Group has considered regulatory, financial and taxation policies to help drive a significant ramp-up in passenger EVs and electric van sales from very early in the decade.

Finally, the Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government published in June last year, commits to publishing an electric vehicles infrastructure strategy. Once completed, the strategy will provide a key framework for ensuring we continue to have sufficient infrastructure in place to keep ahead of demand, while also ensuring that appropriate planning and development guidelines are followed in providing the necessary capacity. It is envisaged that the strategy will be published this year.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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427. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the action he plans to take in order to achieve the target of 51% given that the Climate Action Plan 2019 sets out emission reduction targets of 35% from transport which is seen as very challenging and totally reliant on hitting an electric vehicle target of 1 million by 2030 which has now been set to be achieved within that timeframe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20298/21]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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428. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to have the reduction of 51% in the use of private cars given the target is now set for a 51% reduction in transport and it has been established that private cars account for 75% of all journeys and 79% of all journeys by private cars are made outside of Dublin in which there is little or poor public transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20299/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 427 and 428 together.

To help tackle our climate challenge, I am strongly committed to achieving substantial carbon abatement within the transport sector. Accounting for a little over one fifth of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, there can be no question, but that transport must feature strongly in contributing towards the national decarbonisation effort.

The Climate Action Plan (CAP)2019 recognised that Ireland must expand and accelerate its policies to tackle climate disruption and, noting the role that transport must play, committed to 45-50% emissions reduction in the sector by 2030 (relative to pre-NDP projections). To achieve this level of reduction ambitious targets were set such as almost one million electric vehicles (EVs)on Irish roads by 2030. In light of the Programme for Governmentcommitment to achieve a 7% average annual emissions reduction it is now evident that actions under CAP 2019 alone will not be sufficient to meet the Government's increased ambition. Therefore, work is underway to develop a CAP 2021. My Department is currently engaging in analytical and modelling work to help determine the nature and scale of measures required to achieve the step-up in emissions reduction.

Preliminary findings suggest that a focus on greater EV market penetration and increased biofuel blending will remain as key elements of the transport emission reduction strategy given their strong mitigation potential. The initial analysis also suggests that reducing transport demand and moving more trips to sustainable means will also be required. I will continue to ensure that we invest in increasing capacity and improving access and quality across the wide range of sustainable mobility options. I am also considering ways to better manage the demand for transport. In fact, my Department recently published Phase 1 of the Five Cities Demand Management Study which considers different measures to promote modal shift and constrain private car demand. I am also keen to build on some of the positive large-scale changes we have seen in travel patterns over the past year under public health restrictions, through embedding a greater shift towards more sustainable mobility and supporting practices that reduce the need for travel.

When finalised the CAP 2021will chart a course to reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in line with our Programme for Governmentcommitment. This will advance us toward the ultimate goal of a zero-emission mobility system by 2050. In the interim, ongoing work to reduce emissions continues apace even as we prepare the next CAP. The Deputy will have seen the recent publication of interim actions that we are committed to implementing while CAP 2021 is being developed ensuring continued momentum of our emissions reduction effort across the transport sector.