Government failing to incentivise EV sales claims Mayo Fianna Fáil councillor
Castlebar councillor Al McDonnell told meeting he is not happy with Government's response to reduction of CO2 emissions
A Mayo Fianna Fáil councillor has accused the Government of failing to incentivise people to buy electric vehicles due to the lack of public charging points.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council, Cllr Al McDonnell said the number of charging points around Mayo were insufficient to give people confidence to purchase electric vehicles.
The veteran Fianna Fáil councillor made the comments following a presentation on the Council's climate action plan by Laura Dixon, Mayo County Council's Climate Action Officer.
Cllr McDonnell commented that the Government was facing fines by the European Commission as they are projected to miss its European Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) target of a 42 percent emissions reduction by 2030.
“I am very disappointed with the lack of urgency which the Government is failing to promote the growth towards alternative energy,” he said.
“We stand to face significant fines in 2030 if we don't comply with the European regulations when we are obliged to have 945,000 electric vehicles on the road. My information is that there are 100,000 on the road but there is no incentive to buy electric vehicles in this country because there are no charging points.
“There are four public charging points in this town [Castlebar] with a population of 10,000 people. It is insufficient and the Government is not treating this with the urgency it deserves and we will pay the biggest price. There is no incentive for anyone to buy an electric vehicle and it would be advisable to subsidise the purchase of electric vehicles instead of penalising people.
“I am seriously disappointed and the word should get out from this meeting that we are not happy with the Government's response to energy conservation and reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030,” concluded the Carnacon-based councillor.
His comments on the lack of charging points were echoed by other councillors with Ballina-based councillor John O'Hara claiming that charging points in the county were 'not up to standard'. Ballinrobe-based councillor Michael Burke added that the cost of charging at public charging points meant it would be cheaper to drive a petrol or diesel car.
Ms Dixon responded by stating that the Council had employed engineer Brian Hastings to improve EV infrastructure in the county but added that Mayo would be considered one of the better counties for charging points because of Mayo County Council's partnership with EZO who installed chargers in smaller towns and villages.