Electric Vehicles

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue. The question is fairly straightforward. On the one hand, the Government tells us it wants us in electric vehicles and to move away from fossil fuels. All of that is really good. I do not for a moment come in here to do anything other than try to work with the Government constructively to ensure the people I represent and beyond have the opportunity to charge their cars. When you buy a house or apartment in a multi-unit development, often you do not have a front garden. If people have their own front garden, they can put in EV charging, park the car in the front garden and they do not have to think about it. However, there is an issue if there are communal parking spaces. I will highlight two cases to illustrate the point. The broader point stands but I will talk specifically about two cases. They are both in multi-unit developments. In case number one, planning permission was given to a developer. I will not name the developer because it is partly the developer's fault and partly the local authority's. The planning permission was given on the basis that every parking space would have ducting to facilitate EV charging. Fast forward to people moving into their homes and they find out they cannot put EV charging in at their designated parking space because the ducting is not in place. They have been back and forth. I have to pay tribute to my constituent for his patience and diligence. I will not mention his name but the story has been covered very well by Eoghan Dalton in The Journal who has done good work in this space. The ducting is not in place. Other cables are now under the ground that make it very complicated to put that ducting in place. My constituent still wants what he was told he would have when he bought the house and what he was also told is Government policy, which is the opportunity to drive an electric vehicle. Case number two is an estate where some residents have their own front gardens and others do not. This person does not have a front garden. The estate has not been taken in charge so he cannot put an EV charger in because it is unclear at this stage who the person in charge is. He has been told local authorities currently have no mechanism for agreement to allow personal charger cables across public footpaths. The estate consists of communal parking bays owned and managed by the council rather than individual homeowners but residents understand that running a charging cable across the public footpath is unsafe and not permitted. Their question is simple. The council has helpfully illustrated what they cannot do - they cannot drag it across the footpath or put it over. They want me to ask the Minister of State what they are to do. What does the Minister of State on behalf of the Minister advise that they should do?

Will the Deputy provide a bit more detail on case number two?

In case two, the estate has not been fully taken in charge as yet. The footpaths have been taken in charge as they are public footpaths but the people still own the bay. It is that strip of land. They want to drive electric vehicles but they cannot if they cannot charge them overnight. The Minister of State knows that. It is an impossibility if they do not have the facility to charge them at their home. Their question is simple. What does the Government say? This is in direct conflict with what I believe is Government policy. What is it they are to do?

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising this important matter and providing me with an opportunity to update the House. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. I will outline what the general provisions are and will refer to the specific points the Deputy raised. EV charging requirements are primarily set by the building regulations and apply to new developments. Planning permissions may also specify parking layouts and charging provision. Where non-compliance with the terms of a grant of planning permission is reported, it is for the relevant planning authority to consider the need for enforcement action. The current building regulations requirements for the provision of electric vehicle recharging infrastructure for buildings other than dwellings are contained in SI 393/2021, the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2021. Requirement for EV recharging infrastructure in dwellings is provided for under the Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2022, SI 535/2022. These regulations apply to dwellings where the relevant works or major renovation commence or take place on or after 1 November 2022. The regulations require that a multi-unit building containing one, or more than one, dwelling that is new or undergoing major renovation should install, as the Deputy has already referenced, ducting infrastructure consisting of conduits for electrical cables for each car parking space, to enable the subsequent installation of recharging points for electric vehicles where the parking space is located inside the building or within the curtilage of the building. I am not certain of the specific circumstances the Deputy referenced in terms of 1 November 2022. The regulations also require that a new building that is a dwelling, other than where the dwelling forms part of a multi-unit building, where a parking space is located within the curtilage of a dwelling, should have installed appropriate electric vehicle recharging infrastructure to enable the subsequent installation of recharging points for electric vehicles. Technical guidance documents provide practical guidance on compliance with these requirements. These regulations generally apply to off-street parking associated with developments and do not apply to areas of public on-street parking that may ultimately be taken in charge by a local authority. Once again, I think the Deputy has made reference to an element of that. Alongside the building regulations framework, planning policy may also address the provision of EV charging infrastructure. Some local authority development plans contain objectives relating to EV charging points and associated infrastructure. In addition, the sustainable residential development and compact settlements guidelines of 2024 include a policy requirement relating to parking provision in residential developments, stating that the maximum parking standards do not include bays assigned for designated short-stay EV charging stations. It should also be noted that subject to compliance with certain conditions, EV charging points are exempt from the need for planning permission under classes 29A and 29B of Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. Class 29A provides for the construction of a charging point for electric vehicles. It is open to a property owner to make use of planning exemptions subject to the requirement to adhere to any conditions imposed within the regulations. It is therefore important to recognise that responsibility for EV charging infrastructure can arise through both the building regulations and the planning process. While the building regulations establish minimum technical requirements, planning authorities may also determine the appropriate quantum and distribution of EV charging infrastructure within a development, having regard to local circumstances and planning policy. Deputy O'Reilly has obviously done a lot of work regarding case one and case two. I do not know if it is the same local authority. If she wishes to elaborate a bit more and write to the Minister's Department, it may be something we can contact the local authority on without interfering with process to see what the circumstances are. I hope that sheds some light. I will await the Deputy's contribution.

I thank the Minister of State once again for being here. Regarding case number one, my constituent tells me the requirement for 100% EV ducting in communal multi-unit developments was explicitly reinforced during Dáil debates - which it was because I have checked it - where Ministerial clarifications confirm that national frameworks require comprehensive preinstalled ducting in multi-unit parking structures to prevent subsequent retrofitting excavation. I get that because once it is built you want it to stay built; you do not want to be going back in with diggers. Condition 10 of the parent planning permission, and I will send this on to the Minister of State, strictly mandates that 100% of car parking spaces across the phase must be equipped with subterranean ducting to meet Fingal development plan standards. That was not done and-----

Was that in the project planning?

Yes, exactly. It was an explicit condition of planning and it was not done. Therefore, my constituent finds himself in a situation where he is on a merry-go-round. He is back and forth with the council. The council has given him a certain amount of information, but nobody is addressing this. The years are ticking by and he still does not have access to EV charging at his home. The same is true of my other constituent, who has been in touch with the council. He understands very clearly what the rules are but he also asks the question, in the application of the rules in the spirit of what the Government says, which is that 100% of spaces should be EV-charging compliant, what does he do where they are not? In case two, he has not yet bought an electric vehicle but that is another diesel or petrol car on the road. I know the Government wants to take those off the road and I want to work with it to take them off the road. At the moment, however, the man does not have a choice because he cannot charge it at home. It is not feasible to be going around charging it in other places. It is not safe to be parking your car in other places at night, nor would you want to do it. The question is a simple one. I will send the details of both these cases to the Minister of State, as he has asked, because they illustrate a broader problem. Hopefully, we will be able to come to some class of a resolution. All they want is to be able to charge their cars at home.

I again thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising this important matter. I am taking the Topical Issue matter on behalf of James Browne, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. As I have outlined, the requirements for electric vehicle charging are primarily established through the building regulations and must be complied with in the delivery of new developments, in addition to grants of permission, which the Deputy has referred to, that may contain specific requirements regarding parking layouts or the provision and distribution of charging facilities in such cases. It is a matter for the local authority to consider the need for enforcement in the event that the authority is notified of non-compliance with the terms of the permission. I refer to independent statutory bodies, directly elected councils and their own management. In addition, section 30 of the planning Act precludes the Minister with responsibility for planning from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority may be concerned. Accordingly, when matters of planning enforcement arise, these functions must remain a matter for the relevant planning authority. The Deputy can come to us and we can give her the actual position, but the Minister cannot in any way interfere in the process in terms of the local authority.

I am not asking for that.

The Government remains committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles through the continued implementation of green energy, the building directives, the building regulations framework and wider climate and transport policy measures. These measures will help ensure that EV charging infrastructure is provided in new developments to meet growing demand in the years ahead.