Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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218. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the approximate roll-out time of charging infrastructure at depot sites, as announced in Budget 2025, as there are commercial road cargo and delivery companies willing and ready to transition their fleets from fossil fuel to electric, but require certainty of provision before they invest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43216/24]

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

The EV Charging infrastructure Strategy 2022-2025 sets out the Government’s ambition regarding the delivery of this network to support up to 195,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade.

This includes the National Road EV Charging Network Plan and the draft Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan.

The former will provide for the installation of high power charging infrastructure along the Motorway and National road Network to meet National targets set at EU level.

The latter plan provides a pathway for the accelerated delivery of regional and local EV charging infrastructure at destination and neighbourhood areas, in line with both national and European ambitions for cleaner transportation and will be led by Local Authorities.

It is recognised that certain fleets, such as the freight fleet, will face different challenges in the overall transition to electrification than private car users. The Government has already put in place supports to incentivise the purchase of an electric LDV or HDV category vehicle such as those used for cargo delivery, an example being the Zero Emission Heavy Duty Vehicle (ZEHDV) Grant Scheme.

With regard to charging of such vehicles, depot charging is one such option available to fleet operators along with the roll-out of HDV-specific charging at en-route charging hubs. There are no specific incentives currently in place for provision of charging infrastructure at freight depots at present, however ZEVI continuously monitor the need for additional action to address EV challenges for harder-to-transition fleets.

With regard to the Deputies reference to Budget 2025, no announcement was made with regard to charging at depot sites for freight road vehicles, however there was reference to charging for public transport fleets, such as for DART and for PSO bus services. If it is the case that it is one of these schemes the deputy would like to discuss I would be happy to do so.