Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2017
1836. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to the low emissions vehicles taskforce referred to in Parliamentary Question No. 21 of 2 November 2016, his plans to legislate for the introduction of electric, hybrid and biogas vehicles within the local authority fleet. [27164/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraClean and energy efficient vehicles have an important role to play in achieving Ireland's policy objectives of reducing energy consumption and lessening CO2 and pollutant emissions.
As the Deputy is already aware, my Department and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, jointly have convened an interdepartmental Low Emission Vehicles (LEV) Taskforce to consider the range of measures and options available to Government for the purpose of accelerating the deployment of low carbon technologies. This Taskforce has been divided into three working groups which cover three key areas; Market Growth Stimuli and Visibility; Infrastructure, Energy Regulation and Pricing; and Planning Legislation, Building Regulations and Public Leadership.
Working Group One of this Taskforce, which includes representatives from the Office of Government Procurement, will, as part of their deliberations, consider current public procurement policy in the context of Government and public body leadership initiatives and opportunities, as a means of further demonstrating support for LEV uptake. An opportunity will be provided for stakeholders and interested members of the public to contribute their perspectives to the deliberations of the Task Force, details of which will be made available on my Department's website in due course.
Please note that currently local authorities are responsible for their individual fleet procurement; comprehensive guidance is available through the "Action Plan on Green Public Procurement" and "Green Procurement Guidance for the Public Sector". Additionally, the EU Commission has recently carried out an Impact Assessment for the possible revision of the "Clean Vehicles Directive" (2009/33/EC). As the Deputy may already be aware, this is a public procurement-related instrument which requires public bodies to consider certain energy and environmental impacts when purchasing road vehicles. My Department recently participated in the consultation phase of this assessment, and attended the associated stakeholder engagements at EU level.
