The Government's target of having 50,000 electric or hybrid cars by 2020 will not be met unless there is a drastic change in policy, according to Fianna Fail.

The party said Ireland is falling behind the rest of Europe when it come's to moving Ireland's car fleet from petrol and diesel to electric or hybrid.

Kerry Fianna Fáil TD, John Brassil, also hit out at Communications Minister Denis Naughten over his failure to prioritise the move.

He said: "At present, there are fewer than 3000 electric or hybrid vehicles in this country. It's clear that our current efforts will not lead to the uptake in electric car usage that we need to meet our targets.

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"One of the main concerns motorists have about switching to electric or hybrid is the ability to charge up their vehicle without having to spend time looking for a charging point.

"The Minister likes to point to 900 charging points around country that have been installed in recent years.

"What he fails to highlight in the same way is that just 70 of these are fast charging points.

"Asking a motorist to wait a couple of hours or more to charge their vehicle before taking on the next part of their journey is simply ludicrous.

"Minister Naughten needs to roll out more high speed charging points to give would-be electric car owners the confidence they need to make the switch.

"The 2020 target will not be met by incremental increases alone. We need a front loading of incentivisation measures to help motorists make the transition to electric."

(CD/MH)