Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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294. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the provision of electric car charging infrastructure. [1845/25]

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. Having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles.

A significant challenge to EV uptake by consumers is perceptions around availability and suitability of charging infrastructure. While over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home, which will address most users charging needs, there is an absolute need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible.

To date this has been led by private sector investment, and the number of publicly available charge points in Ireland has increased from 1,700 in September 2022 to 2,400 in 2024. In order to achieve Ireland’s EU targets under the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), it is expected that there will be 3,200 – 6,210 public chargers required nationally by 2025, depending on the level of power supplied at each.

Government therefore needs to act to deliver a wider range of public charging infrastructure, as well as to provide clearer information to non-EV users about the practicality of EV use and the importance of home charging for everyday needs.

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.

Arising from this strategy, the National Road EV Charging Network Plan, published May 2024, will see chargers installed every 60km on major roads. In addition, the draft Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan focuses on neighbourhood and destination charging locations and will be led by Local Authorities in partnership with both public and private sectors.

A range of new charging infrastructure schemes are being developed which will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging, including:

•A motorway infrastructure scheme, administered by TII - in July 2024, it was announced 131 new high-powered recharging points for electric vehicles to be built across 17 recharging pools along major roads.

•A second high powered scheme, to be administered by TII, to provide banks of high powered chargers along the primary and secondary national road network.

•A Shared Island funded Sports Club scheme, which will install up to 200 fast chargers in sports clubs on the island of Ireland.

•An EU Just Transition Fund supported scheme, which is planned to install 60-80 chargers in the midlands.

•Local Authority pilot schemes, funding the roll out of EV charging in Local Authorities who have already developed local EV network plans, while supporting the development of local EV Network plans in other areas.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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295. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will implement a single mode of access for electric and hybrid car users, to avail of national car charging infrastructure, in order to avoid the necessity for multiple apps and accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1846/25]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy is a pathway for the delivery of EV charge point infrastructure to support Ireland’s Climate Action Plan target to have an expected 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030.

The Strategy addresses EV infrastructure standards required to meet user needs as mandated through European regulations, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), and Irish legislation and regulations. These include interoperability; ease of payment; reliability; and accessibility standards and safety.

Under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), all Charge Point Operators (CPOs) have had to provide ad-hoc payment options on all installed new infrastructure since April 2024. All new charging infrastructure funded either privately or by the government will have to conform with this regulation. This ad-hoc payment capability will negate the requirement for users to hold an account with a CPO or access an app to pay for charging. In addition, all charging infrastructure with a capacity of greater than 50kW will have to retrospectively install this ad-hoc payment technology retrospectively by 2027.

In May 2024, Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland published the Universal Design Guidelines for EV Charging Infrastructure.

These Guidelines encourage anyone associated with the installation or operation of EV charging infrastructure to adopt the Universal Design principles and present recommendations for charging station design, site design, and information and communications. While they are not legally binding, the Guidelines do provide technical assistance to help entities design, install and operate EV charging infrastructure that is inclusive and easy to use.