Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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212. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps that he is taking to increase the percentage of electric or hybrid vehicles owned by his Department and state agencies and bodies under the Department’s remit. [45579/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not own any vehicles.

Of the bodies under the aegis of my Department, 3 own vehicles. These are the Central Bank, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, and they have advised as follows:

The Central Bank is carrying out a review of its vehicles to identify electric replacements for the ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles currently in operation. The Bank expects to have electric replacements in place for its road vehicles in 2023. Vehicles restricted to on-site, industrial operations will be reviewed thereafter.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has a policy in place to purchase electric or hybrid cars (where available and operationally feasible). The percentage of hybrid/electric cars purchased by the NTMA has increased from 7% at the beginning of 2022 to 29% in Q3 2022.

The Office of the Revenue Commissioners is committed to its procurement obligations under The European Communities (Clean and Energy-Efficient Road Transport Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 381 of 2021) to meet the minimum targets for the share of ‘clean’ vehicles in procurements undertaken by public sector bodies over the relevant service contract value thresholds. It continues to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including the Office of Public Works (OPW), in its plans to increase the number of electric/hybrid vehicles in the corporate fleet. In advance of placing orders for Electric Vehicles (EV), a budget allocation for 2023 has been applied for to cover the projected expenditure for the installation of onsite charging infrastructure in selected Revenue buildings.

Revenue made a successful application to the Electric Vehicle Commercial Fleet Trial being run by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), and their partners Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and has very recently received an offer of a 3-month trial of an electric passenger vehicle. It is currently undertaking an EV Suitability Assessment to identify vehicles that are most suitable for early replacement by an EV. This involves reviewing the mileage and journey requirements of its fleet on an individual vehicle basis. The results of the EV Commercial Fleet trial, together with the results of Revenue’s EV Suitability Assessment will inform its vehicle procurement and Green Fleet Strategy, which will form part of Revenue’s overall approach to reduce energy and carbon emissions by 51% by the year 2030.