Electric cars are being given a huge push by the government, which hopes to go green and see 5,000 electric cars on the road by 2020 in its bid to reduce emissions.

Battery recharging points will be set up in strategic sites while incentives will be given to electric car owners who install equipment to charge their own cars, such as through the use of photovoltaic panels.

Some €400,000 have been allocated to boosting the market of electric cars, which will also see their annual circulation licences reduced to a nominal fee of €10 from €75.

Meanwhile, businesses that invest in electric cars will be given a reduction in company tax equivalent to 125 per cent. Grants will be awarded to train technical workers in this sector.

Hybrid vehicles are also being given a clean boost through an amendment in the law. The amount of carbon dioxide will be reduced by 30 per cent, from 20, in the computation of the registration tax. Two years ago, in its car tax reform, the government had made hybrid cars costlier than vehicles in the same class that pollute more.

In addition, people who scrap an old car when buying a new one will be given a 15.3 per cent refund up to a maximum of €2,000. The new car must have a low level of emissions, cause less damage to the environment and be of a stipulated size.

When someone buying a new car does not intend to scrap the old one, half the benefit they would have received will go into a fund aimed at getting old cars off the road. This scheme will come into effect on November 15 and remains for a year as the government plans to take 2,000 old cars off the road.

Meanwhile, those who buy bicycles will once again be given a refund of 15.3 per cent for a maximum of €150. Another environmental measure will be the reopening of a scheme to encourage the purchase of solar water heaters to complement the system now in place. A subsidy of a maximum of €400 on the price of apparatus will help some 2,000 families.