Electric vehicles (EVs) sit at the heart of Ireland’s climate plans, but the pace of charging infrastructure roll-out isn’t yet matching the scale of our national ambition. The gap is increasingly visible to drivers.
Government support through the Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) initiative has helped establish momentum, and the progress shouldn’t be dismissed, but it is clear that the level of investment required to sustain the shift toward large-scale EV adoption is far higher than what is currently available.
At a recent meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, I highlighted that while the proposal to add about 500 new fast chargers around the country was welcome, it was a drop in the ocean and remained far short of what would be needed for the number of EV vehicles expected on our roads within a few years.
[ Fewer than half EV fast chargers needed by 2030 will be provided, suppliers warnOpens in new window ]
Government targets for more than 630,000 EVs by 2030 is a huge and ambitious increase from our 196,000 electric vehicles at present on Irish roads. It is exactly what we should strive for.
Achieving this increase, however, depends on a reliable, accessible national network, yet many of the 1,500 sites around the country capable of hosting fast chargers cannot move forward without stronger funding and a grid that can support high-capacity infrastructure.
If we want to meet our climate commitments and achieve 630,000 EVs in five years, investment must accelerate sooner rather than later and it must be part of a co-ordinated national effort rather than a series of incremental additions.
The electricity grid is a particular pressure point. Long delays in connection approvals and limited local capacity are slowing projects that operators are ready to build, making long-term planning extremely difficult. Without more predictable and timely grid reinforcement, Ireland risks falling behind on binding emissions goals that could have been avoided through earlier action.
[ My verdict – and votes – on the seven finalists for Europe’s Car of the YearOpens in new window ]
These shortcomings are felt especially keenly in Dublin, where daily EV use remains a challenge for residents without driveways or access to private charging. Many rely entirely on public chargers that are already stretched thin, leading to queues, late-night charging runs, and, for some, a wavering belief in the practicality of owning an electric car at all. These frustrations have been expressed in recent times by Irish Times readers in the pages of this newspaper.
It’s an unfortunate situation for a capital city that should be leading the country’s transition. Whereas other capital cities, of some of our near-neighbours in Europe, have taken a more flexible, forward-thinking approach.
Amsterdam is rapidly expanding its network, London has installed thousands of kerbside chargers specifically for households without off-street parking and Oslo has supported widespread installation of private chargers across apartment buildings. Their success reflects a simple point that these cities treat charging infrastructure as an essential service and a core and essential piece of infrastructure.
Ireland’s record tax take makes light of Trump tariffs fear
2025 proved to be a record year for tax receipt figures, with the total hitting €106bn.This was despite extensive warnings about the State’s precarious position due to Donald Trump’s series of tariffs, and the number of big multinationals that use Ireland as an export base.It was another bumper year for corporation tax receipts as they exceeded expectations, but perhaps the non-corporation tax take offers the clearest insight into how Ireland’s economic growth will progress as we start 2026.For analysis of the numbers, host Cliff Taylor is joined in studio by chief economist at Davy, Kevin Timoney.Also on this week’s Inside Business, we look at how new EV sales increased last year to overtake diesel, a massive turnaround from 2023 and 2024, which saw EV sales plummet.Will this trend continue? Can charging infrastructure start to meet demand? And what’s being done to increase road safety? Irish Times Motoring Editor Michael McAleer gives his take on the trends hitting Irish roads in 2026.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
Ireland can take a similar approach but real progress depends on a shift in mindset. Charging infrastructure needs to be planned and funded like any other national utility, with long-term commitments, dedicated grid upgrades and supportive planning policies that encourage innovation rather than slow it down.
Ireland has shown what’s possible when you treat infrastructure with a long-term vision, the right level of funding and State-backed delivery. The National Broadband Plan is a shining example of that – by autumn this year, more than 430,000 homes and businesses had high-speed broadband available to them, according to media reports. That makes a real difference to rural and remote communities.
That roll-out was not a series of small pilots. It was planned as a nationwide, mission-level infrastructure project. The delivery was co-ordinated across many years, on budget and on schedule. If the broadband roll-out taught us anything, it’s that Ireland can deliver at scale, but only when it decides the infrastructure is critical and treats it as such. The shift to electric transport deserves the same seriousness. That same mindset, treating EV charging as a core national utility could transform our EV charging infrastructure.
We have a narrow window to bridge the gap between climate ambition and practical delivery. The conversation about EV charging shouldn’t be reduced to personal inconvenience or isolated frustrations, it should instead focus on whether Ireland is prepared to invest at the level required for a genuine national transition.
The technology is available, the industry is ready and the public is increasingly willing to make the switch to an EV vehicle. The challenge is ensuring the infrastructure keeps pace with sentiment. The question is no longer whether Ireland will move to electric transport, but whether the country will build the charging network quickly enough to support it.
Ollie Chatten is chief executive of EZO, Ireland’s largest private EV charging network