Government advisers call for tripling of EV grants in bid to slash transport emissions
A new top-rate grant of €10,000 would apply to smaller models costing less than €35,000, with priority given to lower-income households in areas lacking public transport.
The cost would be at least partly funded by increased taxes on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
The calls come from the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), which says the Government is stalling on steps to achieve the dramatic cut needed in greenhouse gas emissions from transport.
In a report published today, the council says sales of new EVs fell 24pc last year and there were just 72,640 electric cars on the roads – a figure that must increase almost 12-fold to meet the 2030 target of 845,000.
Public EV charging points are only one-third the EU average rate – seven per 10,000 people compared to 20 per 10,000 across the EU.
School buses carry just 18pc of pupils, with hundreds of thousands left to be ferried by car every day. Re-alloaction of road space to cycle lanes and safer footpaths has been 'incremental' instead of transformational.
Ireland is one of the few EU countries without Low-Emission Zones that designate certain urban areas for EVs, bikes and pedestrians only.
Transport emissions fell by 1.3pc last year – the first reduction since the temporary fall during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, emissions need to reduce by 50pc over the next five years and the CCAC says there is no sign of this happening.
Transport uses more energy than any other sector in Ireland and it produces the second most greenhouse gas emissions after agriculture, accounting for 21.5pc of the national total.
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Public transport passenger numbers are rising and EV numbers are increasing but the growing population and increasing size of cars cancels out the gains.
'Urgent and decisive action must now be taken by Government to end our reliance on fossil fuels and deliver the kind of transformative change that is required in this sector,' said CCAC chair Marie Donnelly.
Recommended actions include a revamp of EV supports, retaining the existing €3,500 grant for new cars up to the value of €60,000 but offering the much greater incentive for smaller, more efficient cars to applicants in lower income brackets and certain geographic areas.
Scrappage schemes for petrol and diesel cars and supports to buy second-hand EVs are also recommended, including possibly interest-free loans.
The CCAC is also urging much greater investment in all forms of public transport and a substantial widening of eligibility for the school transport scheme.
Concerns are also raised about the vulnerability of key transport infrastructure – in particular ports – to extreme weather events such as Storm Éowyn last January.
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