Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
77. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the funding programme he plans to provide to facilitate the provision of necessary infrastructure in order to reach the set target of ending the sale of cars powered just by fossil fuels by 2030 in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53203/18]
View answer89. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to address range anxiety and to develop a network of electric vehicle chargers nationwide that would support 500,000 electric vehicles. [53197/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 89 together.
The National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport in Ireland was published in May of last year. It set out the ambition that by 2030 all new cars and vans sold in Ireland will be zero-emissions capable. The National Development Plan, published in February of this year, raised this ambition such that no new non-zero emission cars would be sold in Ireland post 2030.
Realising this ambition will require a range of policies and measures across Government. These will need to include fiscal interventions to dissuade people from purchasing fossil fuel powered cars and incentives to support the uptake of electric vehicles. Incentives currently available include a purchase grant, VRT relief, benefit-in-kind tax relief, a grant for the installation of home chargers, a grant for the use of electric vehicles as taxis and reduction in tolls for electric vehicles.
The National Development Plan provides a total allocation of €200m for the period up to 2027 to support the uptake of electric vehicles. This funding will be allocated as part of the annual estimates process.
The majority of the existing publicly accessible electric vehicle infrastructure was rolled out by the ESB through its eCars programme. This network includes circa 80 fast chargers, mainly on national routes. 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 Low Emission Vehicle Taskforce, co-chaired by my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, examined how best to support the development of electric vehicle charging. The first phase of the Taskforce's work, which focused on electric vehicles, is now complete and the progress report is available on my Department’s website. Arising out of the work of the Taskforce, a grant of up to €600 was introduced to support the installation of electric vehicle home chargers. In addition, my Department, in conjunction with the SEAI, is working on how best to support the provision of greater levels of on-street public charging.
Last month, I announced the successful projects under the first Call for Applications from the Climate Action Fund. I approved funding of up to €10 million to a project from ESB eCars that will develop a nationwide, state-of-the-art electric vehicle fast charging network capable of facilitating large-scale electric vehicle uptake over the next decade. Further details on this project, and the other projects approved from the fund, are available on my Department's website at www.dccae.gov.ie.
