Under a subsidy scheme, applicants can receive up to 50% of the purchase price of a new bicycle or e-bike, with the amount capped at €600. This programme has been extended until March 2024.

However, the wait time to be reimbursed by the state currently is around a year, environment minister Carole Dieschbourg (déi Gréng) said in answer to a parliamentary question on Thursday.

“There is no doubt that the current delays are too long,” she said, adding that the programme had been far more successful than anticipated without, however, disclosing the number of applications received.

Between the launch of the grant in March 2019 and January last year, more than 12,200 applications had been paid out worth around €10m, the latest data publicly available.

The ministry’s environment administration, which processes the requests, is recruiting more staff to catch up on the backlog, the minister said.