The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, has called for a faster, more comprehensive rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to be prioritised.
Speaking at an informal meeting of transport ministers in Paris, Minister Naughton highlighted Ireland's target of having one million electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2030 and outlined the steps that the Government was taking to achieve that.
"My department," she said, "is developing a National EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy that will prioritise the delivery of fast and rapid charge points over the next five years. A strong and balanced delivery of both public and smart home chargers is essential for Ireland's climate goals."
A report by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) yesterday, however, indicated that in order for Ireland to meet its electric vehicle ambitions, it would need 100,000 public chargers by 2030. According to SIMI's figures, at present, there are just 1,900 charge points at 800 locations around the country.
Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive
Minister Naughton also stressed the importance of a widespread and reliable recharging and refuelling network across Europe as well as the need to make progress on the EU's proposal to revise its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive which is part of the union's "Fit for 55" package of proposal to meet its 2030 climate targets.
The Directive is a wide-ranging document adopted by the European Parliament and Council in 2014 which sets out members' requirements when it comes to developing their refuelling networks in the future including by greatly expanding and technically standardising the EV charging network. Proposed revisions to the directive are seen as essential in compelling European countries to create the public charging infrastructure required to underpin the mass adoption of electric vehicles.
Importance of transport workers
The Minister also took part in a roundtable discussion on the attractiveness of the transport sector for workers where she spoke about skills shortages in the freight industry. She acknowledged the hugely important role that transport workers played over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, in keeping supply chains moving.
"Transport workers are essential to Ireland's economy and have worked in unprecedented conditions over the past two years to keep critical supplies flowing in and out of the country," she said.
"Today's debate was a timely opportunity for an exchange of views with my EU counterparts on how best to address the needs of these workers and to protect the sector."