Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Dublin, John Lahart, has queried why there have been no new ESB charging points installed in the county since 2016. Deputy Lahart said it was completely at odds with efforts to move towards electric modes of transport.
He explained, “The Minister has set an incredibly ambitious target of the purchase of 1 million e-cars and e-vehicles by 2030. Yet as it stands there are currently only 650 standard public charge points and 78 fast chargers as a part of the ESB eCars network.
“The Minister confirmed to me that the ESB has not installed any new charge points in Dublin since 2016. I find this astounding given that any discussions on climate action and transport have centred around the phasing out of diesel and petrol cars and a move to electric vehicles.
“To put this into context, in the Netherlands there are 33,000 charge points – 19 per 100km of road. We have so few charging points that they are not even on the ‘per 100km of road’ scale.
“I am sure that continued improvements and upgrades to battery technology will increase the range on an electric car and allow them to travel further between charges but until that happens we cannot depend on random hotels or shopping centres to fit charging points.
“We need investment in charging infrastructure at a much faster pace and to a far greater number. We cannot possibly expect people to purchase an electric car when the network of charge points is completely unsuitable”, he concluded.
