Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 55 together.

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). There is also an interim 2025 target of 195,000 EVs on our roads. Fleet forecasts have been estimated using the Irish Car Fleet Model that assesses the impact of new vehicle technologies on carbon emissions. The model predicts how the proportion of fuel types (petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric) within the fleet will change over time using observed vehicle registration and scrappage rates by age and fuel type. Using this model, we estimate that by 2025, the total electric vehicle share of the national vehicle fleet would be approx. 6.5%. The model is kept under continued review and an update of the model is planned to account for the latest 2022 fleet registration data.

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 almost 77,000 EVs registered on Irish roads (end January 2023). 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.

Last month I launched the national Strategy for the development of EV charging infrastructure, covering the crucial period out to 2025, alongside an Implementation Plan. The strategy sets out the government’s ambition regarding the delivery of a public EV charging network to support up to 195,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade. The strategy seeks to increase the country’s Publicly Accessible Charging capacity by 250% by 2025. In addition we will ensure charging infrastructure is available on the Ten-T network and nationwide including remote areas and areas that will have high seasonal attractions.

A range of new charging infrastructure schemes are being developed which will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging. ZEVI is also working closely with other stakeholders in the development of a national delivery plan for en-route charging later this year.