Eamon Ryan has said that electric cars are not the solution to reducing carbon emissions - and has promised instead to deliver 'systematic change' in Ireland's transport within three years.

Just a year on from a Government commitment to put close to one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, a new OECD report has warned the policy is unlikely to achieve the goal of a 50% reduction in transport emissions by 2030, as set out in the Climate Action Plan.

And Mr Ryan said replacing petrol or diesel cars with electric cars will just lead to "gridlock".

Instead the country must move away from "car dependency" the report says, and prioritise "walking, cycling, micromobility and high occupancy and shared travel where larger vehicles are the only option".

Achieving the targets will require "a radical change in people's mindsets, in order to accept major alterations in the living environment and lifestyles" as well as drastic changes to planning in towns and cities.

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"Mobility hubs" should be developed in urban centres, linked to train and bus services, where shared bikes and scooters would be available for onward journeys.

Yesterday, the Green Party leader and Transport Minister Mr Ryan said that swift moves in transforming the country's transport system must be made before the end of the first carbon budget in 2025.

He said: "It can't be all talk, it has to be actual physical, practical changes on the ground and next week we expect to launch around 35 pathfinder projects which will set real hard, fast timelines on local authorities and agencies to deliver a systematic change in how our transport system works.

"These projects will be delivered in the next two to three years and will begin to demonstrate practically, by people using them, that we can use our road space differently, we can reimagine our towns and cities, we can begin to shift our focus from the car to other more sustainable transport systems."

In the next three years the Government wants to take much of the traffic out of Dublin city centre, deliver a Bus- Connect service to the country's cities, and provide a train station in Moyross, Co. Limerick as well as a high-quality bus and cycling corridor to connect Limerick's three universities.

"I emphasise, hold us to account to what we do in the next three years. That is where we have to be judged," he said.

Yesterday's OECD report warned that Ireland's car dependency will hinder emission reductions from the "scale and pace" needed and instead, the country must move to shared transport systems.

The report, named 'Redesigning Ireland's Transport for Net Zero: Towards Systems that Work for People and the Planet', was created by the Climate Change Advisory Council and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Speaking at the launch yesterday in Dublin, Minister Ryan said: "If we just replace all the existing cars with electric cars, we will still see the gridlock and the huge social negative consequences that come with relying on such a carbased system."

Among the report's recommendations was the suggestion to encourage the public to engage in the use of shared and communal transport systems such as vehicle sharing or dial-a-ride shuttle buses. Such systems would lead to less cars parked on the roadside, allowing for more space for bus and cycle lanes.

Minister Ryan said: "This brings us wider benefits; health, noise pollution, air pollution, in creating local communities that are more resilient, that are more attractive places to live."

In last year's Climate Action Plan, the Government. committed to the introduction of 945,000 ELECTRIC vehicles in the Irish fleet by 2030.

When questioned over whether the target still stood, a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Mr Ryan said: "With regard to the approximately one million - EVs, they are not all private cars.

"A significant proportion would be commercial vehicles like ELECTRIC vans and taxis too.

"We need more people to continue to switch to EVs from fossil fuel cars, which is happening... but we also need more public transport and greater shared mobility options - like bike, e-bike and e-scooter rental schemes, or shared car schemes - more mainstream, in more of our towns and cities."

The spokeswoman said it is still Government's advice that people should buy EVs. "They are less polluting, they are cheaper to run, they don't require the same level of service, and the general sense at the meeting today was that they are better cars," she said.

"But, as the OECD points out, sustainable transport cannot be about moving to EV cars only." Independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle said public transport continues to be a hassle for people who live in rural areas: "If you had an adequate public transport system, the need for cars would decline - we have a forced car dependency because with little public transit systems that are accessible and available, people need a car to survive."