James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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269. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce on street EV charging infrastructure. [30251/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the EV charging network over the coming years.

While over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home, there is a vital 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.

The National EV Charging Network Plan outlines the requirements for publicly accessible charging. The objective is to be ahead of demand and deliver on the AFIR requirements and install EV Infrastructure that is capable of meeting user needs.

We are already seeing significant increased capacity of EV charging on our national roads, and this plan provides additional reassurance and certainty for EV drivers and those thinking of making the switch to EVs that they will be able to find high powered, fast and convenient EV charge-points where and when they need them.

The Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan, which focuses on destination and neighbourhood charging, was published in April this year. The plan will be led by Local Authorities in partnership with both public and private sectors.

A range of new charging infrastructure schemes are being developed, including:

• 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.

• To address a particular challenge of home-charging access a Shared Charging Pilot Scheme was also recently launched. This innovative, peer-to-peer programme enables homeowners to rent their EV chargers to others through a booking platform, offering cost-effective charging options for EV owners who don’t have private off-street parking. The pilot will be supported by ZEVI and will be rolled out in urban, suburban and rural areas.

The use of a home charger across a public footpath is currently not legally permissible due to "private wires" legislation. This matter is currently under consideration by officials in the Department of Climate Energy and the Environment.