To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail any assessment her Department has undertaken on the impact of incentives for domestic electric vehicle uptake, including (i) home charging provision; (ii) air quality; and (iii) public health.

Decarbonising our Transport System is a core element of both the Executive’s Energy Strategy and the NI Climate Change Act (NI) 2022.

Road transport is responsible for a range of pollutant emissions, and the north has 17 Air Quality Management Areas declared because of NO2 emissions from road traffic. These primarily occur in urban areas experiencing high volumes of traffic.

The transition from diesel and petrol vehicles towards zero-emission vehicles is recognised as one of the key measures in reducing emissions from the transport sector. Increased utilisation and uptake of incentives represent a positive step towards lowering carbon emissions, improving air quality and delivering positive public health benefits.

The Department works closely with key Stakeholders to encourage the uptake of all incentives that support home charging. Charging at home is the most cost effective measure for EV owners and by ensuring information about suitable grants is readily available on NI Direct and our own web sites and launching our new off street charging solutions pilot (which will allow ongoing monitoring and evaluation), we hope to make the switch to EV as easy as possible for those who live here.