EV charging points rollout
Deputy Bacik criticised missed climate-action deadlines, especially the slow expansion of public EV charging. The Minister said the ESB was expanding the network and more points were needed in towns, suburbs and villages.
I raise the issue of the failure to deliver progress on Ireland's climate action plan in 2021. Among the more than 100 measures on which we did not see delivery on time was the move to ensure sufficient availability of electric vehicle, EV, charging points for those who wish to switch to EVs. This is being raised with me constantly in my constituency and it is an issue for many people around the country. Many who wish to switch to an EV cannot be facilitated in doing so because of the lack of publicly accessible charging facilities. We do not see any sign of urgency in the Government's response to this in the roll-out of a national strategy, or, indeed, at local level in Dublin City Council, DCC, and other councils. We must see urgency. We need to see the Government ramping up the installation of public charging points in urban and rural areas to enable the switch to EVs. We must also see more urgency in the switch to active transport measures. I raised before - I know the Minister is personally supportive of it - my idea of a bike-to-school scheme and the incentivisation of the purchase of bicycles for schoolchildren to encourage more cycling. It would be similar to the bike-to-work scheme.
Comment on this
The ESB is involved in an expansion of the number of recharging points available. An advertising campaign is being run to draw attention to the recharging points in place and, I am sure, those new ones to come. I take Deputy Bacik's point, however, that we need to see an expansion in the number of these charging points and more available in suburban parts of our cities and in our in towns and villages. I have no doubt that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will be pressing the ESB, with the funding that is available to it, to make more of these charging points available. I fully support all the initiatives under way now to change the way in which our kids can go to school. It is good to see the greater numbers of people on our buses and Luas trams, which is at least helped by the lower level of public transport fares now operating.