Ryan red-faced over fossil fuel State cars
Green chief under f ire over ‘pathetic’ number of electric vehicles in the Government fleet
NONE of Green Party leader Eamon Ryan’s multiple departments, including Transport, Communications and the Environment, use electric vehicles, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
And a mere 1.2% of the State’s 12,216-vehicle fleet run on electricity, according to figures supplied by Minister Ryan’s Department of Transport.
State vehicles include ministerial cars, the Office of Public Works (OPW) fleet, ambulances and vehicles allocated to third-level institutions and semi-state bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. They incorporate every form of transport, from cars to motorbikes and tractors.
Of the State fleet, 11,616 vehicles are run on diesel, 407 are petrolpowered, 149 are electric and two are gas powered.
The figures were confirmed by Mr Ryan in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke.
The Meath East deputy had asked Mr Ryan for confirmation on the total number of State-owned vehicles, and how many of these ‘are hybrid and fully electric’.
Mr Ryan previously predicted that all new cars would be electric ‘by the end of this decade’, adding: ‘It’s game over for fossil fuel.’
But there has been scant sign of progress on the move towards environmentally friendly vehicles when it comes to the Government’s own fleet. There are a total of 45 hybrid
vehicles in the State fleet, eight ethanol-petrol, 15 petrol plug-in and 22 petrol-electric.
An Garda Síochána, with a total of 3,438 cars, accounts for the largest fleet of State vehicles.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of these are high-powered diesel vehicles, 3,069. Of the State’s 407 petrol-powered vehicles, the Garda fleet also accounts for the largest number of old-fashioned gas guzzlers, 341. Just four, less than 1%, are electric vehicles.
The Health Service Executive has just five electric and three hybrid vehicles in its fleet of 1,098 vehicles.
The OPW also has five electric vehicles in its 308-strong fleet, while the Department of Defence has just three petrol-ethanol hybrids among its 534 vehicles.
Several public bodies do not have a single electric or hybrid vehicle in their fleets.
These include the Irish Prison Service, 243 vehicles, Túsla, 128, Irish Waterways, 116, Trinity College Dublin (three) and the State broadcaster RTÉ, 28.
University College Dublin, meanwhile, has just two electric nonhybrid cars in its fleet of 38.
The figures are broadly reflected across other State bodies. Teagasc, 212, and Dublin Fire Brigade, 104, boast just one electric vehicle each, while the Irish Coastguard, 198, has a single petrol-ethanol car among its fleet.
In contrast, Inland Fisheries had seven environmentally friendly cars in its fleet of 178 vehicles. The Dublin Airport Authority has 18 green-friendly cars in its 173-strong fleet.
In a politically embarrassing development, several Government departments have no electric or hybrid vehicles.
These include Agriculture, 100 vehicles, the Department of the Taoiseach, 21, including ministerial cars, Justice, Education and Housing.
The figures also confirm that none of Minister Ryan’s three departments has a single electric vehicle between them.
Data for local authorities show zero electric vehicles in the HealyRae heartland of Kerry. There are also no electric vehicles among the fleets of county councils in Galway, Waterford, Wicklow, Limerick, Westmeath Tipperary, Offaly, Monaghan, Meath, Cavan, Roscommon and Carlow.
When asked about the figures, a spokesman for Minister Ryan told the MoS: ‘Legislation is currently being drafted, in accordance with the EU Clean Vehicle Directive, which will legally ensure that a proportion of public vehicle procurement is low or zero emission.’
The EU Clean Vehicle Directive defines clean vehicles and sets binding minimum targets for procurement undertaken by public sector bodies.
This means Ireland now has to legally ensure that a proportion of public vehicle procurement is low or zero-emission. The spokesman added: ‘Green public procurement is central to addressing Ireland’s transport emissions and will see the State leading by example in converting to zero-emissions technologies.
‘As a greater range of vehicles become commercially available, it is expected that an increasing number of public bodies will transition to electric vehicles.’
However, Deputy O’Rourke told the MoS: ‘These are truly pathetic figures in 2021 in a State-owned fleet of thousands. The Government are penalising ordinary
‘Vast majority of State vehicles run on diesel’
‘Figures are poor for a fleet of thousands’
people with carbon tax hikes year on year, which they tell us is to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, but they don’t seem to practise what they preach.’
Government figures privately expressed surprise at the extremely low level of environmentally friendly vehicles in the State fleet.
One source said: ‘It looks somewhat like another case of “do as I say, not as I do”. The take-up of electric vehicles is actually lagging behind the private sector.
‘It seems astonishing that after a climate change action plan, a Government taskforce, and a Programme for Government commitment that just 1% of the fleet is green friendly.’