There are fewer than 30 electric vehicle charging points on public land in Kerry.
These are EV charging points on local authority lands and Irish Rail stations in the county; and separate from charging points on private lands, which are operated by private companies.
That’s according to figures released to Fine Gael councillor, Patrick O’Connor-Scarteen, at the recent full meeting of Kerry County Council.
Cllr O’Connor-Scarteen asked how many public EV charging points are in Kerry and what plans are in place to install more.
Kerry County Council told Councillor Patrick O’Connor-Scarteen, that there are 28 electric vehicle charging points on public land in the county.
These are EV charging points on local authority lands and Irish Rail stations in the county.
Of the 28 across Kerry, 10 are located in Tralee, four are located in both Listowel and Killarney.
Meanwhile, there are two each in Castleisland, Cahersiveen, Dingle, Killorglin and Sneem.
The council advised there are also a number of publicly accessible charging points on private lands throughout the county - including in filling stations, a hospital carpark, at commercial facilities, hotels and other accommodation services - which are managed by ESB eCars, EasyGo or other charge point operators.
Fianna Fáil councillor, Michael O'Shea raised a motion for the council to liaise with ESB eCars to install charging points in council owned car parks and adjacent to popular recreational locations in all towns with a population over 1,000 people.
The council advised that it will meet with Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) in the coming weeks, who will publish their National EV Charging Network Plan later this year.
The group have pledge to support local authorities in developing Local Authority EV Infrastructure Strategies.
However, it’s not expected the council will be responsible for installation and operation of EV charge points.
The council there is currently no specific funding available for local authorities to develop EV charging infrastructure.
