There was considerable frustration expressed in Laois County Council last week over the lengthy delay in the provision of electric car charging points in a large rural area of Laois.
Cllr Ben Brennan had a motion at the recent Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District meeting looking for an update on “when the EV chargers will be put in Graiguecullen, Killeshin, Ballylinan, Arles and Crettyard as was promised”.
It wasn’t the first time that Cllr Brennan had raised the issue and on this occasion he received a response from Darren Coss, an engineer with ZEVI (Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland) who are a government-backed entity established to accelerate the transition to sustainable, zero-emission transportation.
“Laois County Council is currently working in collaboration with ZEVI and four other local authorities in the Region 2 group to establish a strategy that will define the role out of EV infrastructure across the county. This strategy is due for completion in Q1 of 2026.”
“I’m not happy,” said Cllr Ben Brennan, upon the official confirmation of the response to his motion.
“I’ve been raising this for two or three years now, I’ve put in this motion five or six times. If this was in Portlaoise it would be sorted straight away. Once you come out of Portlaoise, there is nothing.
“Graiguecullen-Portarlington is being neglected. I was promised two in Graiguecullen and I believe a site was found and then that fell through.
“I’ll be like a dog with a bone on this one. It’s alright to say you can have one (charger) in your house but for a public one people have to leave the county or go all the way to Portlaoise.
“All see on the television is about trying to be good for the environment but the infrastructure isn’t there.”
Home owners with an electric car can receive the full cost of a charging point but Cllr Brennan is keen for more public charging points to be made available outside of the largest urban areas.
He was supported by a number of his council colleagues.
“In fairness to Ben he has raised this a number of times,” said Cllr Padraig Fleming. “But nothing is happening.
“It’s very important for passing traffic to have access to charging points.”
“Stradbally was told it was on the list (for chargers) and that it’d be three months away,” added Cllr Paschal McEvoy. “That was three years ago and nothing has happened since. There are no public chargers in Stradbally. It doesn’t make sense.”
Incidentally there is no filling station any more in Stradbally either meaning motorists don’t pass a filling station after the leave Portlaoise until they get to Carlow on the N80 road.
“I support Ben,” added Cllr Aidan Mullins. “It beggars belief that this is going on so long.
“It’s hard to understand how such basic infrastructure in a modern world is so lacking.
“More than 45% of new cars sold in 2024 were electric or hybrid and the Local Authority has to have a role to play. We’re being told the strategy will be completed in Quarter 1 of 2026. But that’s only the strategy. When will anything actually happen?”
Cllr Vivienne Phelan added that she would “like to consider buying an EV but it’s hard to have confidence in the infrastructure.
“On the one hand we’re asking people to be climate friendly but the infrastructure just isn’t there.”
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