asked the Minister for the Environment the number of taxi plates to be issued this year; and if he will make special provision for handicapped drivers.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Taxi Plates.
26.
I assume that the question as to taxi plates relates to the issue of new taxi licences issued to the owners of such vehicles during the grant period which ends on 31 August 1981. Each local authority concerned has the function of determining the number, if any, of new licences which the Garda Commissioner may grant in respect of a particular area during each grant period. I understand that Limerick and Galway Corporations have determined that no new licences should be issued for these taximeter areas in the current grant period and that determinations have not yet been made for the Dublin and Cork taximeter areas.
With regard to the second part of the question, the granting of taxi licences is a function of the Garda Commissioner, subject to the limit decided by the relevant local authority as to the number of new licences which may be granted.
The holder of the taxi licence is not necessarily the driver. The commissioner is also responsible for granting licences to drive small public service vehicles, including taxis and, before doing so, he must be satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to drive a small public service vehicle. The driver of a taxi, as a public service vehicle, is statutorily obliged to carry out certain duties. These duties include giving reasonable assistance in the loading, unloading, and carriage of luggage, taking all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of persons, including handicapped persons, in, on, entering, or alighting from the taxi, and giving all reasonable assistance to any person having authority to examine the vehicle. I have no proposals to modify the standard of service which is necessarily required from drivers of public service vehicles in the interests of safety and service to passengers.