Clare Byrne

Morning, Clare.

So they think, do they, that they have found a solution in London?

What is it?

So if you were to do the gully solution that you outlined there, you'd have to dig a little trench in the footpath and then put your cable into it.

Then I assume there would have to be something covering that over, like a metal flap.

So do you think that's a solution that might work here in Ireland?

But who would be responsible for putting the gully into the footpath?

Can you imagine that working here, that people would have to apply to the local authority, they'd have to wait for the local authority to come out and do it and then pay half of the cost, which would probably be pretty high, you would imagine?

The other problem, Gavin, is that you're not guaranteed to get the spot outside of your house if you're living in an urban area.

Well, that's a really important part of the puzzle, because if you were using those, you know, public chargers and paying the public rate on them, you wouldn't be getting your cheaper, say, your night rate that people have set up now.

So that avoids that.

So you're linked up to your home electricity account.

Right.

What you do know, though, as president of the Irish Planning Institute, is that this really is a major problem, isn't it, for people who live in urban areas where you can't currently install a charger and run the cable out over the footpath.

People have, it's a deterrent, isn't it, to getting an EV?

Well they're planning for it in London at least and then a listener says that the Dutch are installing five chargers on each lamppost just as you described in that system you outlined earlier.

Are you aware that there are plans afoot here in Ireland to try to solve this problem?

Gavin, thank you very much.

Gavin Lawler there, President of the Irish Planning Institute.

And if you're somebody who has come up with a solution for this problem yourself, maybe you're someone who has an electric vehicle, but you don't have a driveway, but you're still managing to charge your car using your home charger.