Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the details of investment in additional national electric vehicle infrastructure strategy in County Clare in 2025; and the location of electric vehicle charge points currently installed in County Clare. [5682/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Home charging is and will remain the primary charging method for most Irish EV owners as it’s convenient and cheaper for the consumer. Home charging also assists in the overall management of the national grid by reducing the impact of reliance on higher powered and peak-time charging. Over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home, however for those unable to do so a growing network of neighbourhood and destination charging will provide a reliable alternative.

Local authorities will be funded by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) to develop local and regional EV charging network strategies and implementation plans. This process will identify the number of charge points required in each area, including on-street chargers to serve residents without access to private off-street parking.

Other solutions may include off-street community chargers, Shared Charging facilities, and/or use of local Rapid Destination Chargers or Hubs. Some authorities have already completed their strategies, while others are in progress. It is anticipated that most of these plans will be finalised by 2025.

County Clare has been identified as part of Region 7 under the network plan and will be working with counties Sligo, Galway County, Mayo, and regional lead Donegal as well as with relevant support organisations and stakeholders to identify the charging needs for their region through the publication of a local charging strategy. Region 7 are about commence development of their EV Charging Strategy.

ZEVI will continue to work directly with the local authority groups as they develop their strategies and will provide other supports and resources as necessary.

There are currently approximately 2400 publicly accessible charge points across Ireland, an increase from 1700 Charge points in Sept 2022. This includes charge points on-street and in car parks.

The Department of Transport does not at present maintain counts of available publicly accessible EV charging stations in specific regions, but ZEVI are developing a Data Strategy which, when implemented, will give the Department full visibility on this. The system will enable the collection of data from charge-points in near real time and provide it on an Open Data basis. The obligation on charge-point operators and owners to share this data is legislated for in the EU Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation. This data system is expected to be in place by April 2025.