Sligo-Leitrim TD calls on government to fund EV infrastructure in North-west

“There are four charging locations in Leitrim, 17 in Sligo, but there are 286 in Dublin, I know Dublin is much bigger but still, there are 52 in Donegal, so that gives you an indication that some areas are quite badly served,” said Ms Harkin.

In 2022, Leitrim ranked the worst county in the country for EV charging points, according to a Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) report. 

The number of electric car purchases in the county is on the rise but has slowed with only 30 more vehicles registered this year compared to the same time last year last year, which is inline with a national trend of stagnation in the EV market as it has slowed by 25% this year, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). 

“August represents the sixth consecutive month of falling new car registrations this year, highlighted by the continuing drop in Electric Vehicle (EV) sales … With Budget 2025 fast approaching, it is an opportune time for the Government to intervene to support the Electric Vehicle project, one which is so crucial for reducing emissions in the Transport sector.” said Brian Cooke, Director General of SIMI.

Though most new electric cars have batteries that last for hundreds of kilometres, the cost of buying new vehicles and installing personal chargers, along with range anxiety are still factors for those wishing to switch to electric.

Ms Harkin met with members of SIMI last week to discuss the need for more investment in Electrical Vehicle infrastructure in the north-west and the need for the subsidies available to electric vehicle buyers to be raised from €3,500 back to where they were in 2022 which was €5,000. 

“(The government) need to look at that again, just for that short period of time until we get a critical then you can remove incentives because the market takes over and people are buying second hand cars”

Ms Harkin feels that investment in EV infrastructure is something that is badly needed in the north-west to attract people to the area: “If you talk to people who have electric vehicles, or Hybrids, they tell you that if they are going on a journey west that you really need to make sure that they are full charged up before they leave Dublin. It's not that there are no EV charging points, but the further west you go the less there are, and if there is a que (at the charger) which it can be, or it is out of order which it can be, then they have to go to the next one which can be a long way away,” she said.

She feels that the government needs to incentivise clubs and community groups to install EV chargers by making sure there is specific funding available for this. “In rural communities they are a really important way of getting this infrastructure into the communities, into the smaller communities,” she said.

“The use of EVs has to be one of the ways we bring down our CO2 emissions and it is one of the things we could be ambitious about,” she added.

READ MORE: Watch Budget 2025 speeches as full details are revealed in the Dáil