Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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335. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider running a kerb charger pilot to enable people who do not have driveways to safely charge their electric cars. [45843/25]

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.

Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) is a dedicated Office within the Department of Transport, charged with supporting consumers, the public sector and businesses to continue to make the switch to zero emission vehicles. The Office leads on the delivery of the Ireland’s ambitious targets under the Climate Action Plan 2023 to have an expected 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030.

In July 2025, the government adopted a Strategy Statement on Private Wires. This is a significant reform of the rules on electricity infrastructure and is intended to facilitate the provision of low-cost charging solutions for EVs. At present only ESB Networks can own a line that brings electricity from a generator to an electricity customer. Following an extensive consultation exercise with industry in 2023, the government has decided that in future, private entities will be able to own and operate electricity lines for specific purposes, including facilitating on-street electric vehicle charging.

ZEVI fully supports this Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment led initiative.

In addition, the Regional and Local EV Charging Network Plan provides a pathway for the accelerated delivery of public destination and neighbourhood charging and will be led by Local Authorities.

Local authorities will be funded by 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. While strategies are being finalised, ZEVI is funding pilot infrastructure projects in a number of Local Authorities, so as not to delay any initial rollout.

Some authorities have already completed their strategies, while others are in progress. It is anticipated that most of these plans will be finalised in 2025.

To address a particular challenge of home-charging access a Shared Charging Pilot Scheme was also launched in February this year. 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.