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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Questions (2157, 2163, 2181, 2190, 2262, 2263, 2264, 2266, 2267, 2268, 2269, 2271)

John Curran

Question:

2157. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of electric vehicle charging points in public spaces in the four Dublin local authorities; his plans to increase the number; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32025/19]

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Fiona O'Loughlin

Question:

2163. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans for local authorities to introduce charging points for electric vehicles on their properties nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31513/19]

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Noel Grealish

Question:

2181. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of charging points for electric vehicles in operation, by local authority area; the number of planned additional charging points, by the year in which they will be provided and by local authority area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31963/19]

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Colm Brophy

Question:

2190. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding provided for the provision of public electric vehicle chargers and the number of public electric vehicle chargers developed in each year since 2011, by county, in tabular form. [32052/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2262. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of charge points that will be dedicated to Dublin from the €10 million provided to the ESB for the nationwide vehicle fast charging network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33366/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2263. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the way in which the electric vehicle home charger grant for shared parking is expected to work in practice, for example, in apartment blocks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33368/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2264. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of regular charging points here; the number of fast charging points here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33370/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2266. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment where he anticipates electric vehicle fast chargers to be located on street and in the context of public parking; the role he anticipates petrol stations will play in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33372/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2267. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of existing buildings that have already installed electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the context of the Climate Action Plan 2019; and if this is already included in the latest planning regulations for new builds. [33373/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2268. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to obligate the operators of private car parking facilities in Dublin city to provide electric charging facilities on their premises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33378/19]

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John Lahart

Question:

2269. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to introduce legislation to obligate operators of shopping centres and other public facilities, such as public and private hospitals, to provide electric charging points at their facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33379/19]

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Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

2271. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans, and the timeframe, to provide electric vehicle charging points at the Houses of the Oireachtas and departmental offices in Dublin and nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33383/19]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos 2157, 2163, 2181, 2190, 2262 to 2264, inclusive, 2266 to 2269, inclusive, and 2271 together.

The All of Government Climate Action Plan, which I launched on 17 June this year, sets out a range of actions to support the delivery of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. These actions include:

- introducing a capital support that will be provided to Local Authorities for the development of on-street public chargers;

- commencing the ESB Electric Vehicle High Power Charging Infrastructure Development Project, supported by the Climate Action Fund;

- including electric vehicle fast chargers as a category eligible for support in the next call from Climate Action Fund;

- expanding the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant to include shared parking (e.g. in apartment blocks);

- developing and implementing planning rules and guidelines across residential and non-residential parking locations for electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and

- developing an overarching charging infrastructure strategy with a target to be set for the supply of infrastructure to stay ahead of demand.

A Government grant of up to €600 is currently available, via the SEAI, to the purchasers of new and second-hand electric vehicles to support the installation of home chargers. Since the introduction of this scheme in January 2018, almost 1.5 million euro has been spent on grants to support the installation of 2,280 charge points in homes. This is in addition to home charge points (numbering more than 2,000) which were installed by ESB ecars prior to 2018.

There are currently over 650 standard public charge points and circa 80 fast chargers (the majority of which are operated by the ESB) in Ireland. A real-time map showing the charge point locations, including the status and availability of these charge points, is available on the ESB's website at www.esb.ie/ecars. The ESB has provided a breakdown by county of those chargers that they operate and is set out in the table:

Standard Charge Points

Fast Chargers

Donegal

30

2

Sligo

12

1

Leitrim

4

0

Mayo

20

2

Westmeath

18

3

Roscommon

18

2

Galway

28

3

Monaghan

10

1

Cavan

10

0

Longford

10

1

Meath

22

4

Louth

24

2

Dublin

150

14

Kildare

28

2

Offaly

14

0

Laois

12

2

Wicklow

26

3

Carlow

14

1

Wexford

26

4

Kilkenny

14

2

Tipperary

16

4

Waterford

26

1

Clare

16

2

Limerick

26

3

Cork

56

7

Kerry

28

1

In addition to these chargers operated by ESB ecars, there are public chargers provided by motor dealerships, local authorities, retail outlets and private companies.

The funding and rollout of electric vehicle charging points has been supported by a Commission for Regulation of Utilities decision to allow ESB Networks to invest and install electric vehicle infrastructure up to a maximum of 25 million euro and recover these costs from electricity network charges. The ESB has also invested its own funds in further developing, operating and maintaining the network.

Funding has also been provided from my Department to support the installation of electric vehicle chargers as part of the Better Energy Communities scheme. As the projects under this scheme involve a range of elements, the specific amount of funding allocated to electric vehicle chargers is not available.

I am in the process of increasing the level of investment in charging infrastructure. Under the first call for applications from the Climate Action Fund, I approved funding of up to €10 million to support ESB ecars to develop a nationwide, state-of-the-art electric vehicle fast charging network. This project includes the installation of 90 high-power chargers each of which will be capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously, upgrading 50 existing standard chargers to fast chargers and replacing over 250 existing standard chargers with next generation high reliability models. This is a multi-annual project and is expected to be fully completed by 2022. The locations of the chargers that will be installed as part of this project have not been finalised. However, a provisional map of the planned network, showing indicative locations, was developed by ESB ecars and has been published on my Department’s website.

My Department, in conjunction with the SEAI, is also working on how best to support the provision of greater levels of public charging for electric vehicle owners who rely on on-street parking as their primary means of parking near their homes. I expect to announced details of a scheme, which will be funded by my Department and provide supports to Local Authorities, later this year. My Department is also examining how to support electric vehicle charging in locations such as apartment blocks and I expect to make an announcement on this early in the new year as set out in the Climate Action Plan.

The role that petrol stations, private car parks, shopping centres and other facilities offering car parking can play in providing infrastructure is under consideration by the Low Emissions Vehicles Taskforce, a cross departmental group co-chaired by my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. As part of this taskforce, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is the lead department in relation to planning legislation and building regulations.

In addition, the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive has been finalised at European Union level. This Directive sets out requirements for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in new residential and non-residential buildings with more than ten parking spaces and such buildings undergoing major renovation. The Directive also requires Member States to lay down requirements for the installation of a minimum number of recharging points for all non-residential buildings with more than twenty parking spaces from 2025. Furthermore, the Directive requires that Member States provide for measures in order to simplify the deployment of charging points in new and existing residential and non-residential buildings. The transposition of this Directive into Irish law and the actions relating to planning rules and guidelines set out in the Climate Action Plan are being led by my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and his department.

It is a matter for each individual Department or Government Office to provide facilities such as charge points for its staff and customers. I am aware, however, that there are four charge points currently available for members of the Oireachtas. My Department has three electric vehicle charging points at its offices at Adelaide Road and two at the offices in Beggars Bush.

Finally, I would note that the Climate Action Plan sets out the need to review and update the targets for public charging infrastructure which are currently included in the National Policy Framework for Alternative Fuels Infrastructure in Ireland 2017-2030. I expect this review to complete early next year.

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