A cycling advocacy group says the Government should include e-bikes in its target for electric vehicles.
Cyclist.ie say there are 10 particular areas they want to be addressed. The State aims to have 800,000 carbon emission-free vehicles on the road by 2030.
However, earlier this week Transport Minister Shane Ross said e-scooters were banned from public roads without insurance. He said in a statement that retailers should be informing consumers that the product they are buying is not legal to be used on roads.
Muireann O'Dea is from Cyclist.ie - she says a subsidy for the vehicles would help targets. She said, "the climate action plan is a bit of a gap. The Climate Action Plan is looking for 800,000 electric vehicles, you know, cars on the road by 2030, but there was no mention of e-bikes.
"So we're looking for good subsidise to encourage people to buy e-bikes. They're a great way for people who have to travel slightly longer distances, that might not be suitable for an ordinary bike."
The group also believes that funding for cycling should be increased fivefold within the transport budget for the coming year, with the majority to be pumped into infrastructure. "We're calling for a minimum of 10% of the transport budget to be allocated to cycling," said Ms. O'Dea.
"This is in line with what has been included in the Climate Action Plan, and the report from the Joint Oireachtas Committee Climate Action, which have both called for 10% of transport funding to be allocated to cycling."
Currently, just 2% of the transport budget is set aside for cycling schemes and infrastructure. "The last year that we have figures for is 2018, and only around 1% of the transport budget allocated to cycling and this year there has been some small increases," added the spokesperson for Cyclist.ie
