Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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181. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details as to how the gradual reduction announced in Budget 2023 in the grant towards the purchase of electric vehicles will be implemented; if vehicles ordered prior to July but not received by customers until after this date will be eligible for €5,000 relief; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14467/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Ireland now has a buoyant demand for electric vehicles; 2022 saw an 81% increase in registration of EVs compared to the previous year (CSO). As of end December 2022, there were 73,574 electric vehicles on Irish roads. This year we are also seeing the arrival of newer EV models on the Irish market that are lower in cost.

The Government's investment strategy for electric vehicles will therefore begin a rebalance towards supporting EV charging infrastructure starting this year. This change aligns with similar polices in other European nations, where countries including Norway, Germany and France have begun to curb their vehicle subsidies and refocus their investments in this sector towards provision of charging infrastructure.

As such, it is now appropriate to amend the current Electric Vehicle Grant scheme. The current maximum grant of €5,000 will remain in place until June 30 2023, with a new maximum limit of €3,500 applying from the 1st of July.

It is important to emphasise that Government support for the transition to EVs remains a key action in meeting our climate targets.

Many elements of the existing electric vehicle grant system remain unchanged. Vehicle incentives for businesses will stay the same and the SEAI will continue to administer the commercially bought EVs and large panel vans grants at current levels.

The small public service vehicles (SPSV) grant for taxi and hackney drivers administered by the NTA was renewed in February, while the Alternatively Fuelled Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme, managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has also remained unchanged.

In addition, there is no change to the existing generous VRT relief which is available to a maximum of €5,000 to purchasers of electric vehicles up to the selling price of €40,000, with a reduced scale for vehicles up to the selling price of €50,000.