The network as it stands
Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien presented the strategy in Dublin. The Department of Transport numbers are worth reading slowly, because they describe a network with a particular shape.
3,620 charging points across 1,200 locations is just over three connectors per site. Spread the 280 MW over the same 3,620 points and you get about 77 kW per connector on average. An average that high only makes sense if a minority of high-power DC units is pulling the figure up. Most connectors in any European public pool are 11 or 22 kW AC posts, and Ireland is no exception. The average describes the power installed, not what a driver will find at the next stop.
On the vehicle side, 270,000 EVs already exceed the 2025 target in the Climate Action Plan. Electric cars are the largest powertrain group in the new-car market at 26.3%.
The AFIR arithmetic
AFIR requires each member state to deliver at least 1.3 kW of public charging power per registered battery-electric vehicle and 0.8 kW per plug-in hybrid. The benchmark was set for the end of 2025, with reporting on top of it.
Run Ireland's fleet through it: 270,000 × 1.3 kW comes to 351 MW. The country reports about 280 MW. That is a shortfall of roughly 71 MW, or 1.04 kW per EV instead of 1.3.
The result is not sensitive to the plug-in hybrid mix. Assume a fifth of those 270,000 vehicles are PHEVs: 216,000 × 1.3 kW plus 54,000 × 0.8 kW gives about 324 MW, still above the 280 MW on the books. One caveat belongs here. Ireland counts the total installed capacity of its public points; AFIR counts the total power output of the publicly accessible recharging pool. The two measures are close but not identical, and the Department of Transport does not publish the split in the press material.
Hubs on national roads, posts in housing estates
The strategy's priorities are high-power charging hubs along national roads and major traffic corridors, and more charging where people park overnight without a driveway. Multi-family buildings and dense urban neighbourhoods get named explicitly. Destination charging is to be developed further, and new sites should be barrier-free and work with different payment systems and vehicles.
The document also covers vans, fleets and trucks, with depots and key transport routes mentioned. It gives no expansion figures for those segments. As a worked example the government points to a new Circle K fast-charging site in Maynooth, opened the same day, and to three funding programmes for charging along national roads.
Electrification of taxis and ride-hailing was addressed separately in February 2026, with €7 million available and grants of up to €25,000 per operator depending on vehicle and conditions.
What a driver pays per 100 km
Infrastructure numbers matter less to a family than the cost at the plug. Take a compact electric car that uses 18 kWh/100 km in mixed driving. On an Irish home tariff of about €0.30/kWh that is €5.40 per 100 km. At a public high-power charger at €0.60/kWh it becomes €10.80, before any subscription discount. A petrol car at 6.5 l/100 km and €1.75/l sits near €11.40.
Those rates are illustrative; operator prices in Ireland vary widely between AC, DC and hub sites. You can put your own tariff and consumption into our charging cost calculator, or check per-site pricing in our database of 483 European charging locations.
Where Ireland sits in Europe
A 26.3% electric share is strong by any measure, though not the highest in Europe this autumn. Germany recorded a 37% battery-electric share of new car registrations in October, and the UK reached 32%, just under its 2026 mandate target. Ireland's 26.3% electric share of new registrations is below Germany's 37% and the UK's 32%, both shares of new car registrations in October and therefore directly comparable with Ireland's 26.3%; Germany and the UK have far larger absolute public charging pools, so no per-capita charging leadership is claimed for Ireland.
What the strategy does not say
There is no count of new hubs, no megawatt target for 2028 and no budget line in the announcement. A mid-term review in 2027 will assess progress and adjust the plan for technical developments. The document sets direction through the end of 2028. The number of charging points Ireland will have then is not in it.
Source: https://www.electrive.com/2026/11/05/ireland-unveils-new-charging-infrastructure-strategy-for-2028/