To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what steps her Department is taking to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles.

Since taking up post I have made clear my commitment to delivering greener, cleaner, sustainable transport. I chose to have an electric vehicle for my Ministerial duties and recently wrote to Executive colleagues to invite them to do the same.

The ‘Road to Zero’ strategy sets out a number of targets and actions in order to achieve an increase in electric vehicles. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) provides a range of e-car related grants towards the purchase of electric vehicles including home, workplace and residential charge points to support the delivery of these targets. My officials work closely with OLEV to monitor the range of e-car related grants and provide advice and guidance to support the transition to zero emissions.

Recently alongside Minister Ryan in the Irish Government and Minister Matheson in the Scottish Government I committed funding in partnership with the EU to deliver increased investment in e-charging points across the island as part of our ambition to transform transport.

In addition, my Department is working to identify further action to support the decarbonisation of transport and infrastructure services that will help to reduce carbon emissions and address the climate emergency. I agreed with Minister Poots MLA earlier this year to work collaboratively to promote the use of electric vehicles and specifically to improve the charge point network across the North. I remain committed to working in partnership with my Executive colleagues and others across our islands to help deliver a change in the way we travel that also helps us to tackle the climate crisis.