65% of the allocated funding for new EV grants is ringfenced for rural areas. Group calls for greater support for the switch to expersive electric and cargo bicycles.A pilot scrapage scheme aimed to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with battery-electric vehicles (EVs) has been closed after just a month, as 2,000 owners of older cars snapped up a 5,000 grant. It is unclear if all of the grants have been fully processed at this point, but the demand is so strong that the scheme is closed to new applications. The Department of Transport said: The ICE2EV Pilot Scheme is now closed for applications, after exceptionally strong interest in the new grant from car dealerships and their customers.The initiative was backed by 10 million in funding from the Climate Action Fund under the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, meaning that 2,000 ICE vehicles will be removed from our roads and replaced by EVs, a spokesperson at the Department of Transport said.The scheme made a 5,000 grant available to replace petrol- or diesel-engine vehicles aged over 13 years with new battery-electric vehicles. This is in addition to the existing 3,500 SEAI grant, which is generally baked into the advertised price of electric cars in Ireland.The spokesperson said: The high level of interest reflects growing consumer engagement with the transition to EVs among both rural and urban motorists. This momentum supports Irelands Climate Action ambitions, including the target for 30% of the national vehicle fleet to be electric by 2030.The scheme was administered by SEAI, and early figures indicate a spread of demand across all counties, with 65% of the allocated funding ringfenced for rural areas. Applications shows a predominance of older vehicles (with most scrapped cars aged 16 years or more), and good uptake among smaller EV and lower-cost models, suggesting the scheme is meeting its key objectives, the spokesperson for the Department of Transport said.The Department said that it will work closely with SEAI to review and evaluate the pilot. While a note on the scrpage grants webpage said: A review of the scheme will be undertaken by the Department of Transport& SEAIfollowing its conclusion, examining uptake, emissions impact, and overall value for money, to inform any future policy decisions in this area.The Department added: The existing SEAI EV purchase grant of 3,500 remains available to all private customers and continues to see strong growth. An additional 37 million was allocated from the Climate Action Fund to support the high level of demand in 2026, including vehicles purchased through the scrappage scheme.Show us your budget, and well show you your prioritiesWhen the new scrapage grant was announced, Dublin Commuters, a group which advocates for sustainable transport, criticised the lack of grants for bicycles.8,500 worth of grants & trade-ins available for electric cars and still no sign of a bike scheme for people in non-typical employment or to trade a car in for a cargo-bike. Show us your budget, and well show you your priorities, the groups said at the time. le-de-France, a region in France which includes Paris, offers financial aid for the purchase of bicycles up to 50% of the cost, with a ceiling of 100 to 1200 of aid depending on the type of bike.Campaigners in Ireland argue that a 10 million fund could provide support for 10,000 or more electric or cargo bicycles for people and businesses thats compared with the 2,000 cars that are to be grant-supported via the ICE2EV scheme. The last Governments Programme for Government promised wider incentives for bicycles the move was widely supported by Ibec, Government and opposition politicians, Department of Transport officials, active transport and climate experts, and campaign groups. There is sustained criticism that the Cycle to Work only works for PAYE workers and a limited number of other people, leaving most self-employed people, students, retired and businesses with no support.But besides widening the limits of the Cycle to Work scheme to better suit electric and cargo bicycles, there was no move to develop grants or government-backed low-cost loans for bicycles. As reported in 2022, the Green Party pushed for bicycle incentives, but their coalitionpartners and other department officials opposed such moves. In 2023, then-transport minister Eamon Ryan responded to a party colleague by recommitting to having officials research bicycle incentives. Nothing was changed before the end of the government term, and the Department has not published any research on bicycle incentives.