Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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291. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the requirement to actively involve disabled persons’ organisations in the public consultation on the new national electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy (details supplied) in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; if his attention has been drawn to the survey not containing any questions on disability, accessibility or universal design; the steps that his Department will take to ensure that the voices of people with disabilities are being heard in this strategy and in the survey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29755/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle (EV) charging network over the coming years. A draft national charging infrastructure strategy for the development of EV charging infrastructure, covering the crucial period out to 2025 was published for consultation in March. The draft strategy sets out the government’s ambition regarding the delivery of a public EV charging network to support up to 194,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade. Responses and submissions received as part of the consultation are currently being considered in the development of the final Strategy for publication.

The second fundamental principle of the draft Strategy is EV charging will work for everyone regardless of age, health, income or other needs to ensure a fair and equitable transition to large-scale EV use. To ensure access for all citizens, principles of universal access and universal design will be considered at all stages of EV infrastructure development, from planning and design stages to operation and use.

The public consultation survey was designed to be a brief survey, that would not take a significant amount of time to complete, and the purpose of which was to get a high level response on the main direction and emphasis of the infrastructure strategy. It was not designed to elicit detailed responses on specific issues, which would have been required for questions on accessibility and universal design to be productive and useful for the consultation process.

As well as the survey, detailed written submissions were invited to the consultation process, and my Department continues to engage directly with, and receive feedback from, stakeholders for consideration in the development of the final Strategy for publication.

Focussed stakeholder engagement is also planned as part of the Strategy consultation process, and my Department will engage with disabled person's organisations as part of a this stakeholder consultation for feedback on these issues to inform the final Strategy.