Sir, – Recent reports citing increased costs of running an electric vehicle are missing an important point: electric vehicles are still the most affordable option for most drivers.
The vast majority of EV owners can fulfil their daily travel needs by charging their cars at home, using smart tariffs including discounted overnight rates or free weekend day rates.
The savings are significant, even given the recent increases in the price of electricity. It costs a typical EV driver as little as €0.03 per kilometre to run an electric vehicle, compared with €0.09 for petrol or diesel cars. That is a huge difference.
Using smart EV charging tariffs, or charging from your home solar PV system, could make the difference even larger.
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SEAI provides grants towards the cost of home chargers and the installation of them, including for those living in apartments.
We also provide up to €3,500 off the sticker price of buying an EV, which are getting cheaper to buy, competing very well with the upfront cost of petrol and diesel alternatives.
Motor tax is also significantly reduced, just €120 annually for EVs versus up to €2,350 for petrol and diesel vehicles. Maintenance costs are also lower – down by about 70 per cent due to fewer moving parts in the vehicle. Resale values are strong.
So, in defence of EVs, those considering a new car should join more than 100,000 Irish drivers who have already made the switch. It’s the right thing to do, especially for your wallet. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM WALSH,
Chief executive,
The Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland (SEAI),
Dublin
Parrott’s place
Sir, – Having said in a recent interview that he’d been focusing on being in the right place at the right time, I have to say Troy Parrott seems to have mastered this remarkably useful skill! What a week for Ireland’s football team. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
Sir, – This result proves to me that GOD is an Irishman. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DUKE,
Kilkenny Road,
Carlow.
Housing and young people
Sir, – Shame on our Government is all that I can say, given the state of housing availability in our country. When I look at the properties in my own community, I just get so mad.
Our adult children would love to move out. No hope of that in the current climate.
There’s a beautiful new apartment block only five minutes up the road. Sadly, they are all for rent at extortionate prices which any single young person, on relatively low wages, just cannot afford.
What’s even more infuriating is that many of these apartments are still vacant despite having been available to rent since early summer!
Then there’s the old people’s complex, not so far away either, which is all boarded up with not a sign of anything being done to upgrade it to current living standards.
I despair when I see and read about the effect the lack of housing has on the mental health of people, particularly our younger people.
I love my country but it makes me sad that it has nothing to offer my children, in terms of housing.
It’s no wonder so many people are emigrating. – Yours, etc,
DEE DELANY,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.
Sir, – Much is said about Ireland’s housing crisis – soaring rents, impossible prices and the despair of first-time buyers.
Yet there’s another group of people rarely mentioned: those who already own homes but can’t live in them.
Thousands of families are paying mortgages on houses and apartments riddled with pyrite, mica and other structural defects.
Their homes – the very symbol of stability – have become sources of stress, fear and financial ruin. They’ve done everything right: worked, saved, bought modest homes. And now they’re abandoned in a system that seems to have moved on to the next crisis.
Meanwhile, many who bought before the 2009 crash and who faced negative equity and unemployment were forced to emigrate for work.
Today, they face another blow – a capital-gains tax regime that ignores inflation and years of ownership.
Selling their homes would mean losing real purchasing power at today’s prices, effectively punishing them for surviving one recession and trying to return home.
We cannot keep dividing people into “winners” and “losers” in housing policy.
The crisis is not only about those who can’t buy; it’s also about those who did buy and were failed by the system.
Until we face that truth, Ireland’s housing story will remain one of injustice and neglect. – Yours, etc,
JOAN STAFFORD,
Blanchardstown,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – I’m reminded of how we all chuckled when we heard of the Irish Government’s target of having one million electric cars in Ireland by 2030 as part of their climate action plan.
As of 2025 we have reached approximately 120,000. I’m feeling similarly sceptical at the recent announcement that the Government’s new housing action plan is going to deliver the building of a minimum of 300,000 houses by 2030.
As my granny used to say, “paper never refuses ink”. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS FINN,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
Neutrality and peace
Sir, – The question of how many Irish men and women would handle an automatic weapon to defend the State is an interesting one raised by Michael McDowell (“How many Irish women and men could rally to the flag and handle an automatic weapon?” November 12th).
As a former British army cadet force member in the North it may only have been semiautomatic weapons I fired but I would like to answer.
How many Irish men and women – and in particular politicians – are prepared to work for peace at home and abroad? How many know about how conflicts and wars develop? How many realise that when it comes to war there are no winners?
How many are prepared to resist the fellow traveller status of Ireland in relation to Nato and the complete militarisation of the EU, formerly a peace project?
Indeed, how many men, women and politicians are prepared to support an active and positive neutrality working for peace in Europe and further afield? How many know about the concept of “defensive defence” and nonviolent civilian defence? Our ignorance of these things is appalling. – Yours, etc,
ROB FAIRMICHAEL,
Ballynafeigh,
Belfast.
Sir, – There must surely be a number of Irish Times readers besides myself who have noticed the increased frequency of opinion articles criticising Irish neutrality and /or asking Ireland to contribute to European defence. Recent examples include pieces by Eoin Drea (November 13th), Stephen Collins (October 31st ) and Lara Marlowe (November 14th). In almost all such cases, Russia is named as a likely aggressor.
This would be perfectly normal if other articles expressing an alternative point of view were also published, but of such items I have seen none.
The Irish Times is not RTÉ (or the BBC), but surely a “newspaper of record” should make a better effort at holding a balanced discussion of such a vital issue? – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BARRETT,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Are we in danger of putting our precious neutrality at risk by asking the French navy to station one of their anti-missile warships in Dublin Bay during the EU meetings next year?
Surely in order to maintain this fig leaf we should also ask the Russian and Chinese to send over some of theirs as well. And don’t forget the US in case Mr Trump gets the huff as well. – Yours, etc,
JOHN ROGERS,
Rathowen,
Co Westmeath.
Supporting the arts
Sir, – If RTÉ truly valued the arts they would have given the excellent Arena programme the prime-time 6pm slot on the new Radio 1 schedule. Instead, they handed that hour to sport even though Game On had already served fans very well in that slot on 2FM.
It could have been a powerful statement of RTÉ’s commitment to culture and creativity but sadly it is a real missed opportunity. – Yours, etc,
WILL FLANAGAN,
English teacher,
Loreto Abbey,
Dalkey,
Dublin.
Leave it to Mr O’Brien
Sir, – I am growing weary of the ritual Denis O’Brien-bashing that now seems to pass for public sport (“Denis O’Brien says Ireland’s graduates are ‘entitled’ and predicts economic downturn”, November 11th).
Every time his name appears in print, half the country clutches its pearls as if success were a communicable disease.
For all the talk of privilege and “inside tracks”, we appear to have developed collective amnesia about the decades in which Denis O’Brien poured investment, jobs and frankly a fair bit of national confidence into Ireland when we needed it most.
It was not the begrudgers who modernised our telecoms landscape or drove Irish ambition on to a global stage. It was not the commentariat who backed Irish entrepreneurship across emerging markets or who helped put Irish companies in boardrooms far from home.
Convenient though the narrative may be, Mr O’Brien did not build his career by inheriting a golden staircase. He built it by taking risks that would give most of us palpitations (and Ireland ultimately benefited handsomely).
So, if Denis O’Brien expresses an opinion on today’s graduates, perhaps we could manage to hear it without immediately dispatching him to the nearest stocks.
He may not always sing from the same hymn sheet as the rest of us, but dismissing him on principle is a grand tradition we could happily retire.
A little less begrudgery and a little more acknowledgment of what certain individuals have actually delivered for this State would serve us all well. – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SCARGILL,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I don’t know whose graduate children Denis O’Brien is talking to but he isn’t talking to mine.
Perhaps he’d refrain from making sweeping accusations in future. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O’LEARY,
Lansdowne Road,
Dublin 4.
A primary education
Sir, – Aidan Boyle (Letters, November 13th) rightly asserts “that the majority of Irish primary schools carry the words respect, inclusion and unity within their mission statements”.
As a primary school principal for 11 years, I can confidently confirm that these ideals exist in our primary schools today and would like to include that all mission statements also aspire to provide a safe, healthy, nurturing and positive environment, which will enable all students to have the opportunity to become productive members of society.
Time and time again, changes in the religion policies in schools are brought up, discussed and often used as an obstacle to further the use of quality teaching time.
“The reality is that all primary schools are now multidenominational,” writes Aidan Boyle.
Better by far, would be to concentrate on lowering the pupil-to-teacher ratio by employing more teachers and, in tandem, for teaching staff to have access to housing to match their incomes.
Young children need space, and overcrowded classrooms do nothing to help reach the vital aspirations of mission statements.
It is a no-brainer to imagine a class of 30-plus pupils, in winter clothing, schoolbags and perhaps a shoe change, placed and confined to the same room for over five hours on a daily basis.
Having a quality spacious environment to teach our children will go a long way to make both the child and teacher work with pride and self-respect. – Yours, etc,
BRENDA MORGAN,
Howth,
Co Dublin.
Fancy pants palates
Sir, – I have enjoyed meals in restaurants in many parts of the world – whether the food be family, fast or fancy. However, I confess to a difficulty in adjusting my palate and wallet to the Dublin eating experience.
Also, I have the impression that restaurant owners get too submerged in the science and forget the interests of the customer. I have often been greeted with pretentious and inscrutable menus.
On a recent visit to a city centre eatery the below, inter alia, was proffered: Killenure Dexter Beef Tartare, Smoked Eel, Beetroot, Lovage Alsace Bacon Consomme, 36 Month Parmesan Ravioli, Gougere Valrhona Manjari Cremeux, Blood Orange Curd, Vanilla Ice Cream.
Rather than a menu, I thought I had been presented with excerpts from Finnegans Wake. – Yours, etc,
TOM McGRATH,
Ashford,
Wicklow.
Sir, – My husband and I dined in a well-regarded restaurant in Spain recently where we were recommended the following menu option: Tripe, cow’s trotter and snout of Retinta cow, Cordoban style. No doubt a prized dish but one we weren’t adventurous enough to sample. – Yours, etc,
ROSEMARY GRAHAM,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Security detail
Sir, – The article “When one window closes: End of free support for Windows 10 signals no room for sentiment in Big Tech” by Ciara O’Brien (October 16th) doesn’t mention an important detail that will affect many Irish readers.
The article states: “That means no more regular updates for the operating system and the millions of machines worldwide that are still running it – unless you pay for the extended support, which will keep you covered until October next year.”
However, Microsoft is offering free extended security updates for Windows 10 to consumers in the EEA.
According to Microsoft, users who remain signed in with a Microsoft account “will be eligible to enrol in ESU for no additional cost”.
This means Irish Windows 10 users can continue receiving security updates through October 2026 without paying the extended support fee mentioned in the article. – Yours, etc,
CONOR BARRY,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
