John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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241.To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the plans for the roll-out of EV charging points across County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32551/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years.

Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), a dedicated Office which oversees and accelerate Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles, has significant funding available in 2024 for the installation of EV charging across Ireland.

While home charging will be the primary charging method for most Irish EV owners given the Irish landscape, there is also a need for a seamless charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible.

The number of publicly available charge points has increased from 1,700 in September 2022 to 2,400, and a significant number of charge points are scheduled to be delivered over the next year.

The National Strategy for the Development of EV Charging Infrastructure was launched in 2023 and sets out the ambition to deliver a public EV charging network.

Arising from this strategy, the National Road EV Charging Network Plan, published in May 2024, provides a roadmap for the deployment of charging on the en-route, Motorway and Primary and Secondary Roads.

The second part of the National EV Charging Network Plan is the draft Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan which was published for public consultation in May 2024. This plan provides a pathway for the accelerated delivery of regional and local networks of public EV charging infrastructure in cities, towns and villages across Ireland with the focus on neighbourhood and destination charging.

ZEVI are currently engaging with Local Authorities to develop their EV Infrastructure Strategies which will identify areas without off street charging capabilities and identify solutions to be included in Implementation Plans which may include off street neighbourhood chargers, Shared Charging facilities, and/or use of local Rapid Destination Chargers or Hubs.

Following Strategy development Local Authorities will identify suitable sites and locations to install the EV charging Infrastructure to meet user needs.

It is envisaged that Local Authorities will work in partnership together and with the private sector using appropriate contractual arrangements to install and operate this infrastructure up to 2030 to facilitate the transition to EVs, and beyond 2030 that the private market will be robust enough to install any future infrastructure based on user demand and need.

Officers in my Department have been engaging with Wicklow County Council and other Local Authorities in the development of these plans.

The Department of Transport does not currently maintain information on available publicly accessible EV charging stations because they are owned and operated by commercial charge point operators, who are not currently obliged to share this information. Any data available at present is sourced from market operators who provide EV information services to charge point operators to facilitate drivers in locating charge points. ZEVI are at present developing a Data Strategy in line with the provisions of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) which, when implemented, will give the Department better visibility on the number, location and status of EV charge points across the network via a shared and open data system, and depending on information provided by charge-point operators.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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242.To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of new electrical vehicles registered in the State, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32552/24]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The details requested by the Deputy are provided in the table below. The data reflect the number of new electric vehicles registered on the NVDF (National Vehicle and Driver Database) in 2024 up to 22 July 2024.