Less than €200,000 of a €1 million State fund to support zero-emissions heavy goods vehicle (HGV) infrastructure was spent last year, with €188,000 of that going on administrative costs, the Dáil has heard.
Labour TD Ciarán Ahern said the low uptake highlighted the barriers facing hauliers in switching to cleaner vehicles.
"I think it was only one grant actually availed of for that whole infrastructure scheme," he said.
Deputy Ahern said that 4.5% of HGVs across Europe are zero emissions, while in Ireland the figure is "only at just over 1%".
By comparison, he said the rate in China "is up to 25% – they're leading the world in this".
Deputy Ahern told RTÉ News that HGVs and EVs cannot use same charging infrastructure.
"The current level funding is not bridging the afforadability gap," he said, adding that "it's incredible that the fund is really not being utilised at all".
Addressing the Minister for Transport in the Dáil, the deputy said that up to half of zero-emissions grants for EVs are not being drawn down.
Darragh O'Brien conceded that the deputy had raised a "fair point".
While "we've seen a lot of the white van vehicles actually changing to EVs and to hybrids", HGV operators are far slower to make that change, the minister said.
"It's down to the weight that's carried," he added.
Deputy Ahern said that hauliers have raised concerns both about the lack of charging infrastructure and the high cost of eletric vehicles, and urged the Government to "make this choice easy - for hauliers in particular - to decide to purchase zero emissions".
He urged the minister to increase the vehicle purchase grant so that a haulier would face the same cost to buy a diesel or an electric HGV.
"You're point is well made," the minister responded.
"Nobody is using (the HGV grant scheme), so Government need to understand why that isn't happening," Deputy Ahern said after today's debate.
