Minister floating scrappage scheme?

It's a common misconception that most people expect the state to subsidise living in the countryside usually by yuppies who live in towns or cities. No one I know expects that. We all have cars, we don't expect to be able to drive and drink, we get taxis and pay for them or we get family members to drop us and pick us up in nights out, we have solar panels even, air to heat systems in our houses, we've embraced most stuff that is modern. We don't expect anything other than what we have. If dozy politicians put up what they can provide us with, we take it with a pinch of salt. We are fully aware of what we can expect and are happy with it. Most of the whingers in the countryside are the city dwellers that have joined us and expect to be able to get the same services here as they had where they grew up and lived previously. Country born people are very aware of what it needs to live and work where we are.

Ah will ya stop

It's 2025, not 1840 FFS.

What about ...

post, parcel, fire services, ambulance, schools, power, broadband, telephone, housing, home care, roads, road maintainance, policing, ...

These cost a fortune to distribute to a scattered rural population.

It's a very good deal and people in the countryside know it.

They did - The state/tax payer IS subsiding all of this. I'm ok with this for food production but not for Mary/John MNC employee expecting the state to pay for their lifestyle and to further destroy the countryside for them.

I'm not playing with your straw man. Never know where it's been.

Only Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain are currently expected to meet the takes. Italy, France and Germany are the furthest off track. They aren't fines as such. Counties who miss targets must buy credits from countries that exceed the targets. The price depends on availabity.

Surprised that nuclear France are one of the furthest off track… Not saying I don't believe you, just that I'm surprised. Also impressed that Spain has made the list given the amount of energy they use on Air Conditioning

So our choice is effectively to hand money over to Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain or to spend it in the country on trying to reach our target? I certainly know which one I'd prefer!

You brought up the question of fines, so I thought you might be interested in a solution, but perhaps not.

And is better for the environment than replacing it with a battery car

It doesn't really subsidise cars because somebody who doesn't already have a private car isn't going to be able to scrap one. What it will do is make the private cars that are already on our roads cleaner

“This is useless if the current owners can't afford to buy a brand new car.”

True enough- hence I focused on a “limited” scrappage deal - essentially enticing those who currently have older cars to jump into the new EV market who can but are reluctant to- I can “afford” a new EV- but I’d prefer not to suffer as much early depreciation - so say 5k off a new model with my old and long owned ICE and I’d probably be a new EV owner tomorrow morning -not all “deals” will suit ALL current ICE owners anyway but if this adds say 4-5k new EV owners and takes 4-5k old ICE cars off the roads, then it’s progress.

The government have to try “something” - but a one size fits all approach doesn’t work - and if the current EV grants of 3k or whatever it is was done away with, I guarantee you we’d see a reduction in car prices nearly overnight - I’m not a fan of over inflated car prices with tax payers footing the bill with grant subsidies but if different approaches are made maybe some progress could be made.

Probably the biggest reason to get into EVs right now is the ongoing and long term likelihood of much higher oil prices - the one reason for me not to is lack of reasonably priced secondhand EVs that I’d like to drive- not least because of over inflated asking prices from dealers — we’ve seen enough posts here of users being low balled by dealers only to see those cars go back on the showroom floor at greatly inflated prices-give me a bit more incentive and a more level playing field and I’ll join the EV troops

It really DOES subsidise private cars though, using public money that would better be spent on public transport - which will keep our roads cleaner AND be accessible to everybody, not just those who can afford a new car.

there are plenty of ppl who may not be able to afford or even want to consider an ev to be within their priority of spending. i hope they dont start this b.s. of forcing ppl into it. You think ev's were some sort of mechanical messiah on this island.

So unless we can do public transport 24x7 up the back of every boreen, then we shouldn't bother doing any?

That's just silly. No transport service meets 100% of people's needs 100% of the time. So we focus on getting a decent spread of services getting decent numbers of users.

If we do want to start subsidising private transport, it should be sustainable transport schemes, like this:

Can't afford? They are litterally cheaper than ICE vehicles these days. As for forcing people into them, you will be free to not own one if you so choose but after 2035 there will be no new ones available so getting around might be more difficult for anybody that doesn't bother with one

There's still 2012 Nissan Leafs driving around on their original 24kW old tech well-out-of-warranty batteries. I think warranty worries are largely a thing of the past and car dealers know this so prices go up. There's also a shortage of ICE cars so that's helping as well. With that being said there's some bargains to be had. A fella I work with got a

So unless we can do public transport 24x7 up the back of every boreen, then we shouldn't bother doing any?

I'm glad it only took this long for that penny to drop…

So you agree then that it's unfeasible to provide public transport as an alternative to car ownership, especially outside of the cities? So what would you suggest as a good way for rural dwellers to reduce carbon emissions if not a car scrappage scheme where an ICE gets traded for an EV?

Back with the McMansions and boreens again? Have you ever been to a rural area?

EBikes are not the answer for most people. Taxes have already been high for some time and they don't seem to be the answer.