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Electric Vehicles

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (296, 322, 323, 324)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

296. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Transport the number of electric car charging points in each county. [18105/21]

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Darren O'Rourke

Question:

322. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the number of electric vehicle home charger grants provided in each year since the creation of the scheme; the spend in each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18681/21]

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Darren O'Rourke

Question:

323. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the number of electric vehicle home charger grants provided by county since the creation of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18682/21]

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Darren O'Rourke

Question:

324. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the value of grants provided under the SEAI public charge point scheme since its introduction in 2019 for each local authority area; the number of charging points installed under this scheme by local authority in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18683/21]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 296 and 322 to 324, inclusive, together.

The Deputies will be aware that the Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years.

€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB. This intervention alone will result in:

- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles

- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers

- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points

The project is due to be completed in 2022.

Further details on ESB charge points nationwide can be found at https://esb.ie/ecars/charge-point-map

In light of the ESB eCars responsibility in the matter of the number of charge points provided by county, I have forwarded the Deputies' questions to the ESB for direct response. Please contact my Office if no reply is received within 10 working days.

While several private operators such as Tesla, Ionity & EasyGO are involved in providing charging infrastructure, my Department does not hold information on the location of charging infrastructure which has been installed without government support. I am aware, however, that ESB has partnered with Tesco Ireland to install 22kW Standard AC Chargers at 33 Tesco locations around the country in the last number of months. More than 50 of these are planned in total. My Department is also making €2 million available this year through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as hotels and shopping centres. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.

In addition to the ESB project, the Public Charge Point Scheme has been in place since September 2019 and will continue to be available during 2021 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. The primary focus of this scheme is to provide support for the installation of infrastructure which will facilitate owners of electric vehicles (EVs), who donot have access to a private parking space but rely on parking their vehicles in public places near their homes, to charge their EVs. To date no chargers have been installed by local authorities under the scheme. The SEAI has, however, received requests from 13 local authorities for applicationsunder the scheme and two completed applications from Louth County Council and Dublin City Council to install a total of 29 charge points within their administrative areas. These applications are currently being assessed for approval.

Combined with an effective public charging network, Ireland's home charging policy will help sustain and service the expected growth of electric vehicles on Irish roads. Charging while at home accounts for around 80% of electric vehicle 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 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.

The table below indicates the total number of grants awarded from 2018 when the scheme was introduced and the annual spend in respect of the EV Home Charger Grant Scheme:

Year

No of Grants

Amount (Euro)

2018

1,034

621,000

2019

2,548

1,528,828

2020

3,523

2,114,000

2021 (to end Feb)

658

400,000

In light of this SEAI responsibility, in the matter of the number of home chargers installed by county, I have forwarded the Deputies' questions to the SEAI for direct response. Please contact my Office if no reply is received within 10 working days.

A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51
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