Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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256. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the total number of e-charging points which are installed and working across the country and the number of charging points yet to be installed in tabular form. [8157/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the actions being taken to increase the number of e-charging points which are being installed in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8158/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 256 and 257 together.

The Deputy will be aware that the Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years.

A national charging infrastructure strategy is being developed which will set out a pathway to stay ahead of demand over the critical period out to 2030. My Department is engaging with relevant stakeholders to inform this work and it is envisaged that the strategy will be published for consultation early this year.

Preparations are underway to establish an Office of Low Emission Vehicles. This Office will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles. It will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the roll-out of charge point infrastructure.

In terms of existing supports for public charging, the Public Charge Point Scheme continues to be available during 2022 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 the scheme is to provide support for the installation of infrastructure which will facilitate owners of electric vehicles, who do not have access to a private parking space, but instead rely on parking their vehicles in public places near their homes to charge their EVs. My Department is reviewing the Scheme at present to ensure that it is as effective as possible in driving the decarbonisation effort.

The Department is working closely with a number of key stakeholders, including Local Government, 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 which will ensure we can continue to expand our national charging network through the supports for on street chargers. I am also aware that a report was published by the CCMA on the provision of guidance to local authorities on the provision of charging infrastructure. The document is available for viewing online at www.lgma.ie/en/publications/general-publications/local-authority-electrification-of-fleet-and-ev-charging-guidance.pdf

€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB. This intervention alone will result in:

- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles - 17 high power chargers distributed across 14 multi vehicle hubs have been delivered as part of the programme to date. The installation of high powered charging hubs will be the priority for the remainder of the program.

- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers - This work is completed at 36 locations. ESB are awaiting the delivery of new chargers which have twice the charging capacity and speed when compared to the existing technology. This element of the programme will restart when the units are delivered and conclude in Q3.

- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points - This work is substantially complete, 258 of the chargers have now been successfully replaced.

The project is due to be completed in 2023.

Further details on ESB charge points nationwide can be found at www.esb.ie/ecars/charge-point-map

In light of the ESB eCars responsibility in the matter of the provision of charge points, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the ESB for direct response. Please contact my Office if no reply is received within 10 working days.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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258. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has examined the inclusion of an income cap for electric vehicle grants; if so, the income caps that were examined by his Department; the estimated number of persons that would be excluded under each income cap if it was introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8171/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The SEAI grant scheme aims to encourage behavioural change and support the Government’s commitment to achieving a 51% reduction in transport emissions by 2030.

The grant schemes are kept under continuous review to ensure that they are as effective as possible in driving the decarbonisation effort.

On July 1st 2021, the grant process was changed so that only vehicles that had a retail price of under €60,000 were eligible for grants, so as not to spend government funds subsidizing high cost vehicles.

In addition, this Department convened the Electric Vehicle Policy Pathway (EVPP) Working Group to produce a roadmap to achieving the 2030 EV target. The EVPP Working Group comprises senior officials and has considered regulatory, financial, and taxation policies to help drive a significant ramp-up in passenger EVs and electric van sales.

The recommendations of the EVPP Working Group were approved by Government and the full report is now available online.

In order to support the transition to EVs, the Group recommended that the generous suite of EV supports already in place in Ireland should be retained until at least end-2022. Additional measures to further incentivise EVs and/or disincentivise fossil-fuelled vehicles will also be necessary.

As such, the report recommended that cost-effective, targeted policy supports should continue to be developed and strengthened over the coming years and that an Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) should be established, as a matter of priority, to co-ordinate the implementation of existing and future EV measures and infrastructure.

This new Office should also take charge of developing and launching an extensive communication and engagement campaign, whole-of-Government in coverage, to drive the availability and understanding of key information regarding EVs, tailored to household, business and public sector consumers. Work is now under way to establish this OLEV.

Overall, the Department is acutely aware that the cost of electric vehicles remains an issue for many consumers. To this end, electric vehicle policy is kept under continuous review with a view to making low-emission vehicles affordable.