Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
1009. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if additional charge points will be provided for electric cars in Killarney and surrounding areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25331/18]
View answerThe vast majority of electric vehicle charging happens at home, which aligns with both technology and patterns of use of vehicles. To support home charging, I introduced the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant scheme this year. This scheme, which came into operation on 1 January 2018, supports the cost of installing a home charger up to a maximum of €600 for buyers of both new and second-hand electric vehicles. In terms of the number and extent of publicly accessible charging, the National Policy Framework on the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport in Ireland notes that Ireland's current electric vehicle charging network infrastructure is ahead of current market demand. However, it is recognised that the future development of electric vehicle public charging needs to progress alongside the growth of electric vehicles.
The existing fleet of public chargers was rolled out by the ESB, through its eCars programme. A map showing the charge points, including the status and availability of the charge points, is available on the ESB’s website at www.esb.ie/ecars. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities approved an application from ESB Networks to recover the costs of this project to a maximum of €25 million from use of system charges.
Following a public consultation process, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities published its independent regulatory decision in relation to the future ownership of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in October 2017. A key outcome of the decision is that the charging network should not form part of the regulated asset base and therefore expansions of the network should not be funded from network charges. This is in keeping with the proposals set out by the European Commission in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package which was published in 2016.
The decision also set out the need for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure to operate on a commercial basis. In the absence of State-led support, this is unlikely to happen in the near term. Funding has, therefore, been allocated in my Department's budget this year to support the provision of public charging.
A key aspect of the work of the Low Emission Vehicle Taskforce, co-chaired by my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, involves examining how best to support the development of the public charging network. The first phase of the Taskforce's work, which focuses on electric vehicles, is nearing completion and I expect to bring forward proposals that will support the provision of effective and efficient publically accessible electric vehicle charging.
In this regard, funding for public charging in local communities is already available through the Better Energy Communities Scheme. The scheme, which is administered by the SEAI, supports community based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of homes, businesses and community facilities in a local area.
