An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Paul Daly (FF), Agricultural Panel

At the outset I would like to be associated with the words of the Deputy Leader on the passing of David Andrews. I want to extend my personal sympathies to our colleague, Barry Andrews MEP, his nephew, Chris, our colleague here in the Seanad, and the extended Andrews family.
There is an article in today’s Irish Independent about EV charging infrastructure. The ESB has announced that while it has 1,600 chargers, only 1,400 can be used at any one time, although it admits this has nothing to do with grid infrastructure but its own infrastructure as some of these are almost outdated and cannot be used simultaneously by multiple vehicles. It was also highlighted that the latest price increase will bring its KW hour price for a unit of electricity at a fast charger to 73 cent. I am a converted EV driver – I will receive my third electric vehicle on Friday. I charge at home and I have solar panels but I have done a night rate deal with the ESB whereby between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. I can get electricity at 10 cent a unit. A comparison was done on the radio this morning which showed that 73 cent a unit actually works out at €12 per 100 km of travel distance, whereas petrol or diesel is only €10. It is actually more expensive. There is no incentive there. When you are stuck for a charge, you are stuck for a charge. To me, it is blatant gouging. The ESB can sell me the electricity at 10 cent and it can buy the electricity that my solar panels are producing for 19 cent and then it charges 73 cent. It is not the worst. There are other suppliers charging up to 85 cent. It is way more expensive to go to a fast charger than it is to fill up with diesel or petrol. We need the Minister in here. We need to discuss the infrastructure and the pricing. While we were encouraging people to buy electric vehicles, after all the tribulations around the Strait of Hormuz people are coming to it themselves without encouragement. The last thing we want is for them to be driven back by what is nothing short of price-gouging.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01