Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 January 2019
43. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he is taking to develop a modern EV charging network; and the location of new EV chargers being funded by the climate action fund. [3181/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe majority of the existing publicly accessible electric vehicle infrastructure was rolled out by the ESB through its eCars programme. This network includes 77 fast chargers, mainly on national routes. A map showing the charge points, including the status and availability of the charge points, is available on the ESB's website at www.esb.ie/ecars. Under the Climate Action Fund, I approved funding of up to €10 million to a project from ESB eCars that will develop a nationwide, state-of-the-art electric vehicle fast charging network capable of facilitating large-scale electric vehicle uptake over the next decade. The project successfully completed the assessment stage and is now going through the validation stage. On completion of this stage further detail on the project, including information in relation to the location of chargers, will be set out.
Funding for public charging in local communities is also available through the Better Energy Communities Scheme. The scheme, which is administered by the SEAI, supports community based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of homes, businesses and community facilities in a local area.
In addition, my Department, in conjunction with the SEAI, is working on how best to support the provision of greater levels of on-street public charging.
