Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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194. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress being made in achieving the target for one million electric vehicles by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3958/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The new target under the Climate Action Plan is to have 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030 (i.e. 845,000 private EV target).  

The key change is instead of simply targeting a minimum number of cars, we are focused more on making a large amount of the overall private car fleet electric. The 2023 Climate Action Plan places electric vehicles within a greater framework of our national transport infrastructure, with a focus on other sustainable methods of transport other than private car ownership.  

The Government has already committed significant funding to support low emitting vehicles through the National Development Plan, which currently includes an allocation of almost €500 million for the period 2021-2025 and additional support from the Climate Action Fund. This funding includes both capital grants to support the purchase of EVs and capital funding for the delivery of EV charging infrastructure.

In July 2022, 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 . 

Further funding has been allocated in 2023 to ensure the continued transition to electric vehicles.  This underpins the Government’s commitment to making electric vehicles accessible to all. This funding will continue to incentivise the switch to electric vehicles as well as enabling the expansion of a fast and rapid electric vehicle charging network to stay ahead of demand.

There are currently circa 73,500 EVs registered on Irish roads (end December 2022). That number is expected to increase as the price of EVs continue to fall relative to their combustion engine equivalents. It is expected that as manufacturers increasingly ramp up EV production, upfront costs will become more comparable to traditional combustion engine cars within the next number of years. This will make total cost of ownership much more attractive and competitive, particularly given fuel prices trends. There is also far more choice available across all major car manufacturers and this is driving increased competition on price.  

The Department convened the Electric Vehicle Policy Pathway (EVPP) Working Group to produce a roadmap to achieving the 2030 EV target. The EVPP Working Group comprised 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 in addition to the generous suite of EV supports already in place in Ireland, 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 was established to progress the recommendations and consider further potential measures and barriers to the adoption of the EVs. This Group reported on its progress to Government in December.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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195. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when legislation will be in place to allow e-scooters on the Fenit greenway County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3968/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government has committed us to legislating for electric scooters, or e-scooters. The Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021, which has completed all stages in the Dáil and is now before the Seanad, includes provisions to allow for regulation of the use of e-scooters. The bill defines a new category of vehicle in the Road Traffic Act, 1961 to be called 'powered personal transporters' or PPTs, which will include e-scooters. Establishing this new category of vehicle will enable me to put regulations in place to govern the safe use of e-scooters. E-scooters which meet the criteria established in the Bill and subsequent regulations will become legal to use on their introduction. 

Once the Bill has been enacted and the relevant sections commenced, formal drafting of the regulations can be commenced. It is worth noting that the introduction of new technical regulations for vehicles is subject to mandatory examination by the European Commission for a minimum of 12 weeks under the Single Market Transparency Directive (EU) 2015/1535.

The passage of the Bill through the remaining legislative stages is subject to the Oireachtas. It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted before the end of Q1. Work will then progress on the Regulations, including the mandatory examination period noted above.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the regulation of electric scooters will be examined (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3986/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government has committed us to legislating for electric scooters, or e-scooters. The Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021, which has completed all stages in the Dáil and is now before the Seanad, includes provisions to allow for regulation of the use of e-scooters. The Bill defines a new category of vehicle in the Road Traffic Act, 1961 to be called 'powered personal transporters' or PPTs, which will include e-scooters. Establishing this new category of vehicle will enable me to put regulations in place to govern the safe use of e-scooters. E-scooters which meet the criteria established in the Bill and subsequent regulations will become legal to use on their introduction. 

Once the Bill has been enacted and the relevant sections commenced, formal drafting of the regulations can be commenced. It is worth noting that the introduction of new technical regulations for vehicles is subject to mandatory examination by the European Commission for a minimum of 12 weeks under the Single Market Transparency Directive (EU) 2015/1535.

The passage of the Bill through the remaining legislative stages is subject to the Oireachtas. It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted before the end of Quarter 1. Work will then progress on the Regulations, including the mandatory examination period noted above.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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197. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if, in consultation with the Minister for Transport, he will consider the introduction of a motor scrappage scheme whereby on the scrapping of an old petrol or diesel car, the motorist would receive a grant to purchase an electrical bike up to the value of €4,000; if his attention has been drawn to a scrappage scheme, similar to this, which has been introduced in France; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3996/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Department is continuously exploring ways to encourage the uptake of cycling as a mode of transport. The popularity of e-bikes is growing and they serve to encourage an even wider demographic of potential cyclists to choose an active mode of transport over the private car. 

I was pleased to see the thresholds for the Cycle to Work scheme increased by the Minister for Finance in Budget 2021 to include e-bikes and, in the most recent Budget, cargo bikes; however it is noted that this scheme is not open to those who are not engaged in work. Initiatives such as a scrappage scheme such as that introduced in France have merit, but must be assessed in order to achieve maximum impact and value for money.

The Department will continue to undertake research into the best possible interventions which could be introduced to encourage modal shift away from private car and encourage an uptake in e-bike usage across all demographics.