McNamara highlights lack of EV Charge points in Clare
Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara has urged Clare County Council to play a leading role in expanding and modernising the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging network in County Clare.
Deputy McNamara said there currently is no public EV charge points in the entire Killaloe Municipal District, while only three charging stations were currently available throughout West Clare in Miltown Malbay, Kilrush and Kilkee with many large towns and villages across the county also without such a facility.
He added that every town and large village in Clare should be serviced with an Electric Vehicle Charge Point and that the network would need to be significantly expanded if the Electric Vehicle usage is to be increased in the county.
“In my Parliamentary Question to Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, I asked if County Clare would benefit from additional electric vehicle charge points when the proposed new national electric vehicle infrastructure strategy is published during 2022,” commented Deputy McNamara.
He continued, “Minister Ryan informed me that he would welcome applications from Clare County Council under the Public Charge Point Scheme which provides local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers.”
“I would ask that Clare County Council consider parts of Clare currently not served by EV charge points when applying under this scheme. This includes key locations in Killaloe MD such as Scarriff, Killaloe, Clonlara, Feakle and Tulla, as well as towns and larger villages like Lissycasey, Doonbeg, Bunratty, Corofin, Quin, Kilmihil, Kilfenora, Inagh and Kildysart,” added Deputy McNamara.
“I also welcome Minister’s Ryan’s confirmation that his department is also developing a new scheme which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as hotels, visitor centres and parks. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging,” he concluded.
