Written answers

Wednesday, 2 March 2022

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Electric Vehicles

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to provide the necessary charging points required in public spaces to support persons who are purchasing electric vehicles in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11973/22]

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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55. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of electric charging points that are now operational in public areas in each local authority area broken down by fast chargers and ordinary chargers in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11974/22]

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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56. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of electric vehicle home chargers that have been grant aided by his Department in each year since the commencement of the scheme; the cost of the scheme on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11975/22]

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the expected timeframe for the publication of the national charging infrastructure; the details of the engagements with relevant stakeholders on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12002/22]

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 55, 56 and 84 together.

The Deputy will be aware that Ireland has set an ambitious target of 936,000 EVs on our roads by 2030 that reflects the scale of the transformation needed to achieve its climate targets in the coming years. Under the National Development Plan €1bn has been allocated to specific carbon reduction measures, including vehicle electrification.

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 infrastucture 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 in early 2022.

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 rollout of charge point  infrastructure.  

In terms of existing supports for public charging, the Public Charge Point Scheme continues 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 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.

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.

Having an effective and reliable recharging network is essential to enabling drivers to choose electric. Charging at home is the most convenient and cheapest way to recharge. Targeting the installation of smart home chargers is a priority as we look to moving towards more energy efficient and sustainable ways to charge. A grant is available from the SEAI for those individuals seeking to install a home charger. The below table outlines the number of electric vehicle home chargers that have been grant aided in each year since the commencement of the scheme and the value of the same.

Year No. Grant aid
2018 1,034 €621,000
2019 2,548 €1,528,828
2020 3,523 €2,114,000
2021 8,379 €5,019,380
Total 15,484 €9,283,208

Work is currently being progressed to expand the EV home charger grant to include shared parking in apartment blocks and similar developments. My Department is working closely with the SEAI and expects a scheme for apartments to open in the near future.

There is also a need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as on-street and residential charging, destination charging, and workplace charging. 

€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB, with the infrastructure to be in place by the end of 2022. This intervention alone will result in:

- 90 additional high-power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles -  Seventeen high-power chargers distributed across 14 multi-vehicle hubs have been delivered as part of the programme to date.

- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers -This work is completed at 36 locations.

- 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.

Further details on the progression of this project can be found at esb.ie/ecars/our-network/network-upgrades.

My Department is also developing a new scheme which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as hotels, visitor centres and parks. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.

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. 

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