To ask the Minister for Communities what action she is progressing to change mobile library vehicles to alternative fuels such as hydrogen or electric; and when this will be completed.

As part of an overall approach to managing the environmental impacts of its operations Libraries NI is developing a vehicle replacement programme which will seek to introduce alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet. The initial focus of this programme will be a phased replacement of the 38 light commercial vehicles which make up the majority of the current vehicle fleet of 55 vehicles in total.

A study is being undertaken to evaluate alternative technologies, the supporting infrastructure currently available and the feasibility of replacing the larger, heavy commercial vehicles used as mobile libraries with vehicles operating on alternative fuel sources.

It is anticipated this study will be complete by mid-2021 and the findings will inform future approaches to mobile library vehicle replacement.