Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Every sector has to significantly step up climate action if we are to meet our national climate action objectives. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 commits us to a 51% reduction in our overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the latest, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. As Minister for Transport, I am committed to putting my sector on the trajectory required to achieve our targets; this involves, in part, deciding on which technologies can help accelerate our transition to a low-carbon and sustainable mobility system.

In 2019 Ireland committed to no longer procuring diesel-only buses for our urban public fleet; since then an array of different alternatively-fuelled technologies have been assessed to determine their suitability for providing a reliable and greener bus service. While electric vehicles are currently the most mature and proven alternative fuel to decarbonise public transport, hydrogen is emerging as a promising technology especially for longer journeys.

As such, and to adequately trial hydrogen, the NTA recently procured three double-deck buses. These vehicles are currently being deployed on Bus Éireann commuter route 105X. My Department also included one of these buses in the Department’s Low-Emission Bus Trial - which is a standardised test that has been employed to compare a range of alternative bus fuels and technologies under real driving conditions. This trial follows the testing of a single-deck hydrogen bus late last year. Findings from Phase 1 of the Bus Trial were published in December 2019, and I expect the final set of findings, including the results for the tests of both the single and double deck hydrogen buses, to be published in Q4 2021; thus allowing my Department to assess the feasibility of hydrogen as a fuel for public bus transport in Ireland.

Investment priorities in public transport must be delivered to meet the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan and to achieve our climate objectives. The investment priorities represent a decisive shift towards the achievement of a decarbonised transport system demonstrating the Government’s unequivocal commitment to securing a carbon-neutral future.