IT defeats the whole purpose of asking drivers to be more environmentally conscious by switching to electric vehicles if the number of charging points available in the county is less than adequate, a meeting of Kerry County Council has been told.
There are just 28 electric vehicle charging points available on publicly owned property in Kerry – including local authority land and Irish Rail stations – but others are located on private lands, including garages, hotels and a post office.
Raising the issue, Cllr Brendan Cronin said there is clearly a requirement to provide an adequate and sufficient service to owners of electric vehicles, particularly in one of the country’s busiest tourism counties.
“The number available is very limited. Even on the Ring of Kerry route – one of the most travelled in the country – there are very few options,” Clllr Cronin said.
“On the one hand we have the government asking people to take a leap of faith by going electric but this problem is defeating the whole purpose,” said the Killarney councillor who asked local authority officials to write to Environment Minister, Eamon Ryan, to seek proper resources for Kerry County Council to increase the number of charging stations.
Cllr Cronin said he was aware of one electric car driver who pulled up at a charging station to find that another motorist got there just before him.
“The other driver plugged in his car and went off for a two-hour walk and left him waiting there,” he said.
Kerry County Council Director of Services, Charlie O’Sullivan, said the lack of charging stations presented a significant issue and a real challenge in the county and that the local authority had previously made a submission on the matter to the government.
“There are significant costs involved and we need the energy suppliers to come to the table on this,” he said.
“The council can’t cover the costs of installation and the standing charges which are quite sufficient,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
The meeting heard that, at the moment, there are just four public access charging stations in Killarney, two of which are located in the Glebe car park and two others in the Tesco car park on Park Road.
There are 10 electric charging stations in Tralee, four in Listowel, two in Killorglin, two in Castleisland, two in Dingle, two in Caherciveen and two in Sneem.
A number of hotels also provide charging facilities for its customers.
