Not 'every boreen' but large swathes of Laois are in electric car charging black spots
Laois TD says Mountmellick has one charger with no charging points on the Portlaoise to Carlow road
Publicly available electric car chargers are absent from most of Laois, according to a local TD who says that while they shouldn't be on 'every boreen', large swathes of the county have nothing in place, and many towns have just one device.
The lack of public chargers along Laois roads was raised by independent TD Brian Stanley in the Dáil, where a Minister promised to speed up delivery in the county.
"I raise the issue of charging points in Laois, or the absence of charging points in most of the county. We have a situation where there are 21 publicly available charging points in the county," he said.
Dep Stanley said that while charging points run down the centre of the county along the motorways, they are absent from stretches of the N80, the R44 and many other roads.
While he accepted that, as he put it, there can't be a charger on "every boreen" there are big parts of Laois that have not charging points.
"The east and west of the county are completely blank, according to the map and the documents I have," he told Minister of State Alan Dillon.
He highlighted the absence of chargers along the busy N80 road.
"There is nothing the whole way from Portlaoise to Carlow town. There is nothing in Stradbally, Ballylynan, The Swan, Newtown or Graiguecullen," he said.
He also flagged other blackspots.
"In the south and west of the county, Durrow has none along with Borris-in-Ossory, Castletown, Camross, Errill and Clonaslee. In Rosenallis, there are none," he said.
The situation in one of the big Laois towns, which is also on the N80, was also flagged.
"Mountmellick has a population in the region of 5,000 and has just one charging point," he said.
He added that there is just one charging point in towns like Abbeyleix, Mountrath and Rathdowney.
He said that while 75% to 80% of charging will be done at home, public charging points are needed. He said people in rural areas are car-dependent, and it has to be made easier for people to get children to school and to get to work, get to hospital appointments and do their business in local towns and villages.
"We need to provide the option and make it easier for people to move to electric vehicles, including people in rural areas. The Minister of State is from a rural constituency and so am I. He understands what I am saying to him. If people in the far corners of the county have to travel to work or beyond that, we need to ensure there are those charging points," he said.
Minister Dillon said that data from January 2026 shows that in Laois, there were approximately 20 publicly accessible charging pools - locations with at least one charging point - with 67 charging points across these pools.
He said local authorities will be funded to develop local and regional EV charging network strategies and implementation plans. He said this process will identify the number of charge points required in each area, including on-street chargers to serve residents without access to private off-street parking.
He said three locations in Laois are due to get high-powered charging points by the end of this year. In addition, he said Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland, a dedicated Office within the Department of Transport, has provided funding to install a network of publicly accessible chargers in communities nationwide with five eligible clubs in Laois for new charging points.
These are the Heath Golf Club, the Heritage Golf Resort, Park Ratheniska GAA club, Clonaslee St Manman’s GAA club, and Annanough GAA club.
"I will take the Deputy's points back to the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, as regards an accelerated programme to try to meet our EU targets with an emphasis on ensuring the Deputy's constituents in Co Laois are supported," promised Minister Dillion.