Government plans to roll out free charging points for electric cars around the country are in disarray, after it emerged that users face the prospect of forking out for 'pay and display' parking if they want to charge their cars.

According to Dublin City Council, while it has the power to redesignate a 'paid parking' area to make it free, it cannot reserve a spot on the public road exclusively for the use of the charging points without new legislation.

The ESB plans to roll out some 1,500 such charging points by the end of next year, and has committed to operating them free of charge for the initial phase.

"If we were to rescind the pay and display bay at a charging point, this bay could then be used as free parking for any vehicle and we could not take action against any vehicle parked at a charging point which is preventing other vehicles from charging their vehicles," a Dublin City Council spokeswoman said. "There is no legislative basis at present for reserving parking on public roads for the purpose of charging electric cars."

As a result, she said the Department of Transport needed to bring forward specific legislation to allow it to reserve parking on public roads for electric cars to use.

"Once the Department of Transport makes regulations permitting Dublin City Council to reserve charging points on public roads for the sole use of vehicles charging up we will implement same. Primary legislation will be required to reserve these bays for vehicles charging up."

It typically takes between six and eight hours for an electric car to fully recharge, although the ESB hopes to install 30 fast chargers along major urban routes.

This would mean that motorists would have to pay up to €23.20 (€2.90 per hour) in pay and display parking fees while their car charges for the full eight hours.

Earlier this year, Green Party energy minister Eamon Ryan launched the first of four such charging points at parking spaces in the city centre, including one outside his own department's offices on Adelaide Road in Dublin.

But this parking space is currently subjected to pay and display parking from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said it had held discussions with the ESB and Dublin City Council in regard "to the practicalities of providing charging points for electric cars, and further contacts are planned".

The spokeswoman added:?"The question of recompense to the council for loss of parking revenue at parking bays set aside for the recharging of electric cars is one of a number of issues which have been discussed.

"At the present time, and under current regulations, pay and display parking rules continue to apply to the spaces themselves."