Vol. 506 No. 2
306 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will nominate a date and time for a meeting with the Cab Drivers' Association in connection with its urgent need to be allowed use bus lanes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15216/99]
Hackneys, as private hire vehicles, have not been permitted to use bus lanes in view of their more limited service role, which does not involve publicly standing or plying for hire, and the practical difficulty of distinguishing them from private cars.
The Dublin Taxi Forum, while recommending some form of external identification for hackneys to facilitate enforcement of regulations by An Garda Síochána, nonetheless recommended against the merging of the separate service roles of taxis and hackneys, against roof signage for hackneys and against permitting access to bus lanes by hackneys. I have no proposals therefore to extend the use of bus lanes to hackneys at this time.
I have indicated to the Irish Cab Drivers' Association that officials of my Department will be available to discuss these issues with them.
