Date: 11 February 2021
Green Party TD for Wicklow, Steven Matthews has welcomed the news that public EV charging points will be installed in Greystones and Blessington by Wicklow County Council in the coming months.
Discussing the news Deputy Matthews said:
“This is brilliant news for the residents in Blessington and Greystones. This is part of a new Government scheme, funded through SEAI, that supports the rollout of public EV charging points. This is one of the many initiatives the Green Party pushed for in the Programme for Government but unfortunately, like so many things, the rollout was delayed by the pandemic. I hope that these initial projects will get the ball rolling in Wicklow County Council and we can see greater urgency in the coming months to have public charging points installed in towns/ villages across the county through this grant scheme funding.
“I meet regularly with Wicklow County Council to raise various concerns brought to my attention by constituents and the issue of EV charging points is something that has come up more and more in recent months. The news today is welcome but I want to urge the local authority to increase the uptake of Government funding that is available to fund up to 20 EV charging stations per year in Wicklow, which is unprecedented, but also to caution that they must be placed in locations that don’t impinge in any way on accessibility or existing walking/ cycling infrastructure.
“Increasing the number of on street charge points removes a key barrier in the uptake of electric vehicles. There is a clear desire out there for people to change, but this may not always be possible if they don’t have their own driveway or are unable to install charging infrastructure on a rented property. The Climate Action plan encourages the uptake of electric vehicles, but this needs to be matched with charging infrastructure and it is through initiatives like this that we will hit these goals.
““Blessington and Greystones are just the start, there are towns and villages across Wicklow that would benefit from the installation of charging points and may be the final incentive that encourages someone to switch from petrol/ diesel cars. The Government funding is there for local authorities across Ireland to facilitate a wider rollout of charging points and I look forward to working further with Wicklow County Council as they make plans for other towns and villages across the county, concluded Deputy Matthews.
Comments