Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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62. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the pace of growth of the EV fleet in the main vehicle categories; the main barriers to further adoption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55846/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The uptake of EVs in Ireland has been steadily increasing and has risen from circa 26,000 at the end of 2020, to over 47,000 at the end of 2021 and increasing to over 70,000 to the end of September 2022. The end 2022 figure in the Department's CAP 21 EV pathway was surpassed by the end of July, with EV sales continuing to increase despite overall car registrations being down on the same period last year. EVs now represent over 20% of the market share.

I am acutely aware that the cost of electric vehicles remains an issue for many consumers and that supply chain issues globally have also proven difficult. These have been exacerbated by international events.

Ireland is at the beginning of its transition to private electric transport. Within a few years I anticipate there will be a viable second hand market that will provide a more affordable pathway to the purchase of an EV. In addition, the motor industry is planning to bring more affordable electric vehicles onto the market.

My Department convened the Electric Vehicle Policy Pathway (EVPP) Working Groupto produce a roadmap to achieving the 2030 EV target. This Group considered a variety of regulatory, financial, and taxation policies to accelerate EV adoption. The Groupalso examined the issue of price parity between EVs and ICE vehicles and found that parity in respect of the Total Cost of Ownership is likely to be achieved later on this decade, driven by falling battery prices and savings due to economies of scale.

In the meantime, 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. Cost-effective, targeted policy supports should continue to be developed and strengthened over the coming years.

An Implementation Group has been established to progress the recommendations and consider further potential measures and barriers to the adoption of the EVs. This Group will report on its progress to Government in December this year.

On 21st July I launched a new dedicated Office, Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland, which will oversee and accelerate Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles. A suite of new of grants and initiatives have been launched with further information available at: www.gov.ie/zevi