Cork City Council plan for electric car chargers hampered by new e-scooter legislation

A Cork City Council project to provide electric car chargers around the city has been paused indefinitely as a knock on effect of new e-scooter legislation.

On July 29, the government brought in e-scooter regulations to increase the minimum age for e-scooter users to 18, make helmets and high-visibility clothing mandatory, and increase fines.

The Department of Transport said it will explore further proposals in the coming months, and “in light of these changes, will now pause and review funding of public e-scooters schemes.” 

This has had an unexpected knock-on effect on projects in local authorities, including ones not involving e-scooters.

In June, Cork City Council agreed to a mobility hub pilot whereby 12 sites including Lapp's Quay, Victoria Cross, Mardyke Walk, South Mall, Pope's Quay and Glasheen Road, would have two car sharing parking bays with EV charging stations and ducting to facilitate EV car sharing.

Although the plan did not include e-scooters, it is being funded through a wider national pilot being delivered by the government and NTA, for which other local authorities used the funding for public e-scooter schemes.

As a consequence, funding for the scheme nationally is now delayed, including in Cork where the project was for electric cars.

Additionally, expressions of interest in a revised shared bike scheme had been invited, including that interested providers would be able to provide e-scooters, if that was part of the final scheme.

A number of potential providers ruled themselves out on this basis and now the process will need to be started again, without inclusion of e-scooters.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, said: “This is what happens when a government lurches from one policy to the next.

“There was no consultation with local authorities or an assessment of what impact it would have.

“The EV charging project in Cork has nothing to do with e-scooters, and I don't believe we would have settled on e-scooters for the bike-share scheme, but now both projects are up in the air because of government uncertainty.” 

He said: “Anyone looking at social media is now being inundated with posts by the Gardaí seizing illegal e-scooters. This is before the new regulations even come into force, so it could have been done all along.

“I've been contacted by commuters with conditions that mean they cannot drive, like epilepsy, who are genuinely fearful about what will happen to them.

“They fear the rug is going to be pulled from under them in using e-scooters to get to work by a government who don't know what they are doing.”