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Electric Vehicles

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Questions (110)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

110. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated full-year cost of providing 785 extra electric car charging points nationally. [18456/20]

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Written answers

My Department does not directly commission the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging points. It does, however, provide support for the installation of charging infrastructure through the SEAI and the Climate Action Fund (CAF) to facilitate the development of Ireland’s charging network. My Department has committed €10m from the CAF to enable ESB ecars in expanding the national charging network which involves the installation of various types of charging infrastructure across the country including new high power chargers (150kW), fast chargers (50kW) and standard chargers (22kW). The SEAI provides support across two main categories, namely home and public charging points.       Home charging accounts for around 80% of EV charging in Ireland and it is best practice, internationally, to promote home charging as the most common and cheapest form of charging. To support home charging, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), on behalf of my Department, administers an EV Home Charger Grant of up to €600 towards the purchase and installation of an EV home charger unit. It would cost up to €471,000 to provide 785 home charger grants.In addition, SEAI also administers an EV Public Charge Point Grant to local authorities to install charge points for EV owners who rely on public streets and car parks to park near their homes. A total of 75% of the capital costs is provided through the grant, up to a maximum of €5,000 per charge point. Accordingly, it would cost up to €3.925 million to fund 785 of these charge points.The new Programme for Government commits to publishing an EV strategy to ensure charging infrastructure stays ahead of demand and this work is currently underway so as to ensure we can build on our success to date and provide for an appropriate level of charging infrastructure across the country for the years ahead.

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