Richard Bruton
Question:207. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the number of grants paid to the four local authorities to date in Dublin for the installation of public electric vehicle chargers. [3380/22]
View answerTuesday, 25 January 2022
Questions (207)
Written answers
The Deputy 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. A national charging infrastructure strategy is due for publication this year which will set out a pathway to stay ahead of demand over the critical period out to 2030.
Preparations are underway to establish an Office of Low Emission Vehicles. This Office will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles. It will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the rollout of charge point infrastructure.
There is a need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as on-street and residential charging, destination charging, and workplace charging.
In terms of existing supports for public charging, the Public Charge Point Scheme, which is administered by the SEAI, provides local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. The primary focus of the scheme is to provide support for the installation of infrastructure which will facilitate owners of electric vehicles, who do not have access to a private parking space, but instead rely on parking their vehicles in public places near their homes to charge their EVs. It should be noted that this scheme facilitates the installation of standard charge points.
My Department has committed to reviewing the Scheme later this year to ensure that it is as effective as possible in driving the decarbonisation effort.
My Department is also developing a new scheme which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as visitor centres and parks. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
Thirteen local authorities have been in touch with SEAI in relation to the Public Points Scheme. To date, letters of offer have issued to Louth County Council and Dublin City Council in 2021, to install a total of 29 charge points within their administrative areas.
In 2021, Dublin City Council and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council also received €35,779 and €52,780.71 from the Department for the installation of EV Charge Points in their areas, as pilots to inform the development of the forthcoming EV infrastructure strategy.