2026-03-26

I raise the issue of charging points in Laois - or the absence of the charging points in most of the county. We have a situation where there are 21 publicly available charging points in the county. That is the latest information I can get. I have a map of Laois which shows the charging points run down the centre of the county. That is fine because there is the N7 and N8 but there is the N80, the R44 and many other roads. The whole east and west of the county have been left out of it. The biggest barrier to getting people to move to electric cars is range anxiety and access to charging points. If drivers have to travel to charge or they have to queue, that deters them. Laois has them in the middle of the county. It is a county with a population of almost 100,000. There are none in the east of the county. There is nothing the whole way from Portlaoise to Carlow town. There is nothing in Stradbally, Ballylynan, The Swan, Newtown or Graiguecullen. In the south and west of the county, Durrow has none along with Borris-in-Ossory, Castletown, Camross, Errill and Clonaslee. In Rosenallis, there are none. Mountmellick has a population in the region of 5,000 and has just one charging point. While 75% to 80% of charging will be done at home, I think the Minister of State will agree that we need public charging points. I welcome the chargers that have been put down through the middle of the county and there is a need for more. However, the east and west of the county is completely blank, according to the map and the documents I have. As the Minister of State and I know, people in rural areas are car-dependent. There are a few Local Links but for work and at other times, people need to use a car. This week has shown that we need to try to move away from fossil fuels. They will become more expensive so people will go electric. We have to make it easier for people to get children to school and to get work, get to hospital appointments and do their business in local towns and villages. There is not a bus going up every road, even though rural transport has improved. You cannot have one on every boreen and I think we accept that. As I understand it, the number in the State is in the region of 2,500 but we have only 21 public charging points in Laois. According to information given in answer to previous parliamentary questions, I see the aim is for between 3,200 and 6,210 public chargers. That is a huge variation and the Minister of State might just address that. Is there a target and timeframe for that? They need to be better distributed. We cannot have a situation where the price of petrol and diesel will go up and up in the coming years. We know that with Donald Trump and Israel's crazy war in the Gulf fuel prices will not go back down to what they were at before that. We know that. It was the same in Covid. Prices went up but they never went back to pre-Covid levels. It will be the same with this. We need to provide the option and make it easier for people to move to electric vehicles, including people in rural areas. The Minister of State is from a rural constituency and so am I. He understands what I am saying to him. If people in the far corners of the county have to travel to work or beyond that, we need to ensure there are those charging points. What is the plan to increase the number in the State? What is the plan to increase the number in County Laois?

I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this important matter of EV charging points in Laois. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. The Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the EV charging network over the coming years. Having an effective and reliable charging network is an essential part of enabling drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles. A significant challenge to EV uptake by consumers is perception around availability and suitability of charging infrastructure. While over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home and will address most users' charging needs, there is a need for a streamlined public charging network to provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible. Currently, there is an obligation on charging point operators and owners to publicly share charge point data under the EU alternative fuel infrastructure regulation. Data from January 2026 shows that in County Laois, there were approximately 20 publicly accessible charging pools - locations with at least one charging point - with 67 charging points across these pools. There is an aggregated power output of 5 MW across these pools. It should be noted that this data is provided by charge point operators, CPOs, and there are some small differences in approach across CPOs in relation to the format of data provided. Zero emission vehicles Ireland, ZEVI, an office in the Department of Transport, is finalising a data strategy and associated data platforms that will, once in place, enhance the Department's ability to monitor this infrastructure more accurately. This strategy is being finalised following consultation and will be published shortly. The system will enable measures to be put in place to enhance accuracy of data provided by charge point operators in relation to charge points in near real time and provide this comprehensive data on an open data basis. The new draft national EV charging infrastructure strategy 2026-2028 was published on 26 February and aims to further accelerate the delivery of EV infrastructure across lreland. It includes a comprehensive plan to expand and future-proof the national EV charging network, ensuring that charging infrastructure continues to keep pace with the growing demand for electric vehicles. The strategy will build on previous ZEVI publications, such as the regional and local EV charging network plan and the national road EV charging network plan. The national road EV charging network plan sets out targets for en route charging across the national road network, whereas the regional and local EV charging network plan focuses on neighbourhood and destination charging locations that will be led by local authorities in partnership with both public and private sectors. Laois has been identified under region 2 with counties Longford, Roscommon, Westmeath and regional lead Offaly. Local authorities will be funded to develop local and regional EV charging network strategies and implementation plans. This process will identify the number of charge points required in each area, including on-street chargers to serve residents without access to private off-street parking.

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. The strategy being developed needs to look at the reality on the ground and at the geographic locations. You cannot have a situation where there are chargers down the middle of the county but nothing either side of it. If you travel the 28 miles to Carlow from Portlaoise, there are none. On the other side of the county, if you travel down the Slieve Bloom side of it and into Roscrea, there are none. I am highlighting the fact this needs to be included. I agree with the Minister of State that up to 80% will be done at home and I understand that. In a lot of the locations where there are chargers, such as in towns like Abbeyleix, Mountrath and Rathdowney, there is just one charging point. Mountmellick with its population only has one. That needs to be looked at. They are all expanding towns. In all of those towns, the population has gone up in recent years. It is important there is that service. I listened to the Minister of State's response and Departments will talk about strategies, phases and all of that. Some things need to be kept simple or they do not happen. In short, what I am saying here is that this does not take a genius to work out. When you have large geographical rural areas, like the east and western sides of Laois and parts of the south of the county, left out, we need to fix that. I think the Minister of State will agree, given the debates we had in the House this week around fuel costs and the challenges we are facing there, we are going to be moving more to electric and the easier we make it the better. Let us try to make it easy for the motorists, the people in rural areas, who will continue to have to use their cars. Rural transport is shown to be a success. We need to make this a success as well. It will not happen if we leave out rural Ireland.

I thank Deputy Stanley for his advocacy and for raising this matter on the floor of the Dáil. It is not the first time he has raised it and it is an important issue for those who have EVs. They do need more security and predictability in regard to charging networks and facilities. There are three ongoing schemes, LDV1, LDV2 and LDV3, being administered by the Department of Transport and these will ensure Ireland meets its EU targets for a publicly accessible EV charging network. For LDV1, a total of 131 high-powered recharging points will be built across 17 charging pools providing over 24 MW recharging. One of these is located in County Laois at Portlaoise Plaza on the M7. Regarding LDV3, which comprises of 192 high-powered recharging points, there will be three locations in County Laois under this phase, each location with the minimum capacity of 100 KW that will be installed. The majority of the EV infrastructure delivered under each of these schemes is expected to be operational by the end of this year. In addition, ZEVI is also running a scheme in conjunction with the Department of the Taoiseach and using funding for the shared island fund. Deputies may be aware that this scheme provided funding to install a network of publicly accessible chargers in communities nationwide and there were five eligible clubs in Laois for new charging points, namely, the Heath Golf Club, the Heritage Golf Resort, Park Ratheniska GAA club, Clonaslee St. Manman’s GAA club, and Annanough GAA club. I will take the Deputy's points back to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, as regards an accelerated programme to try to meet our EU targets with an emphasis on ensuring the Deputy's constituents in County Laois are supported.