Just four State-owned vehicles are electric, in fleet of 6,600

Only four of the State’s 6,600-strong fleet of publicly-owned vehicles are electrically-powered – one less than last year, latest figures show.

Despite Minister for Transport Shane Ross’s recent declaration that “an end of the age of the internal combustion engine is in sight”, his department records reveal the Government is buying more petrol and diesel vehicles, and reducing its number of electric and hybrid cars.

By the end of 2017, there were 6,597 State-owned internal combustion engine vehicles on the road – 132 more than the previous year.

At the same time, the number of electric vehicles in the fleet went from five to just four. The number of hybrid vehicles remained the same at four.

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Between 2015 and 2017, the State has put 447 more petrol and diesel vehicles on the road, up from 6,150 to 6,597. It is the equivalent of putting four more fossil fuel cars on the road every week .

Over the same period, it reduced the number of hybrid vehicles in its fleet – down from seven to four.

Greenhouse gas

Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil spokesman on communications, environment and natural resources, accused the government of a "do as I say, not as I do" approach to cutting greenhouse gas emissions under 2020 targets set by the Paris Agreement.

"Shane Ross has done virtually nothing to address the crisis developing, and which will arise when we fail to reach those targets," he said.

“Apart from the penalties we face, we should be doing it because it is simply the right thing to do from an environmental perspective.”

Mr Dooley demanded an audit of all State vehicles, examining their use and range, to determine how many could be electrically-powered.

“I’m not suggesting every vehicle the State owns can operate on electricity, but they can do an awful lot, they can cover a multiplicity of needs at the moment,” he said.

The Department of Transport has already cut its initial target of having 230,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2020, down to 20,000. There are currently less than 4,000 electric cars in Ireland.

In his opening remarks to the Electric Vehicle Summit last October, Mr Ross said electric vehicles were no longer the car of the future “but a reasonable and acceptable alternative to the traditional fossil-fuelled vehicle”.

Mr Ross said “there is no excuse for feigning ignorance” of the impact of fossil fuels on our environment, adding that transport accounts for a fifth of Ireland’s greenhouse emissions.

“The evidence is undeniable and we all have a responsibility to change the way we think about our transport and our travel needs,” he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said it has jointly convened an interdepartmental low-emission vehicles task force to stimulate the uptake of electric vehicles.

“The role of public sector leadership in encouraging electric vehicles (EV) uptake is being examined,” he said.

“The National Procurement Service is planning to introduce a new public procurement framework contract for EVs in 2018 which would allow public bodies to purchase EVs with reduced administrative burden.

“It is expected that this measure will promote greater uptake of EVs within the State vehicle fleet.”

The Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment will also fund a new “public awareness” scheme to encourage electric vehicle uptake, the spokesman said.