Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 October 2020
101. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications the status of the Climate Action Plan 2019 in view of the delays to electric vehicle manufacturing caused by Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30470/20]
View answerThe Climate Action Plan sets out a pathway for the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) over the next decade based on an analysis to identify key emissions abatement technologies. It is widely expected that, over the next number of years, the combination of improvements in technology, reductions in vehicle purchase prices, increasing driving ranges and model availabilities, coupled with Government incentives and new investment in the recharging network will maintain the current positive policy environment under which electric vehicle sales have risen steeply in recent years.
There are currently over 23,500 electric vehicles currently under taxation in Ireland. At the end of 2017, there was under 3,800 electric vehicles in Ireland. This increase represents a six-fold increase over 3 years. Furthermore, though the registration of new cars has fallen this year compared to 2019, the number of new electric vehicles purchased so far this year is already ahead of the number of new electric vehicles purchased last year.
The Government is fully committed to supporting the roll out of EVs so as to ensure we meet our ambitious commitments as set out in the Programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan. In this regard, following yesterday's Budget, I expect to allocate €36.5 million next year, including a €9.5m contribution from the Carbon Tax, to further enable the roll out of electric vehicles and related charging infrastructure. In addition to the continuation of vehicle grants and home and public charging, the SEAI will also be introducing new and additional support measures for destination chargers for locations such as hotels, shopping centres or places of employment. A new EV marketing campaign will be launched by the SEAI to assist citizens in making informed choices on the environmental and economic benefits of driving an electric vehicle.
In addition, under Budget 2021, €15 million has been earmarked by the Department of Transport to support taxi and hackney drivers in scrapping their older vehicles and replacing them with electric alternatives. The scrappage scheme will be open for taxis and hackneys reaching their maximum permissible age limit in 2020/21. Details of the scheme will be released shortly.
