Electric Vehicles
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

It is a fair point. The road transport support scheme is not a subsidy. It is a cost reduction measure and a viability measure for our supply chain. I do not see it as a fossil fuel grant or incentive for the use of fossil fuel. That said, it is clear the haulage sector in particular and others in the agriculture sector are heavily dependent on fossil fuel, especially heavy goods vehicles. A lot of white van vehicles have changed to EVs and hybrids. It is down to the weight carried. We had 162 electric HGVs registered at the end of 2025. Compressed natural gas is another renewable fuel. We had 157 registered in 2025, a 5% increase. Also, to be fair, in the haulage sector many firms use alternative sustainable fuels and biofuels like biogas and HVO. This is an area for which substantial grants are available but we need to create confidence in that sector that there is an alternative in using electric instead of diesel in the heavy goods vehicles space.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30