Vol. 523 No. 5
228 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the current status of the proposal by Dublin local authorities to issue 800 new taxi licences in order to ease the demand situation and also in relation to his own proposal to issue an additional taxi plate to each existing holder; and if he will make a statement on when he expects the obstacles to action in this field to be removed. [21654/00]
In line with its stated commitment to improve the Dublin taxi services, the Government determined on 30 November 1999 that a more urgent and accelerated approach to matching Dublin taxi supply and demand was needed and proposals were formulated which envisage the creation of an additional 3,100 taxi licences in the Dublin area. This figure subsumes some 470 of the approximately 800 new taxi licences proposed for issue by the Dublin local authorities between 1999 and 2001. The subsequent Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations, 2000 (S.I. No. 3 of 2000) provide for the first phase of implementation of the Government decision.
Judicial review proceedings were initiated in the High Court in February 2000 in relation to the Government decision and a range of provisions contained in public service vehicle regulations. The court has granted an interim injunction preventing Dublin Corporation from granting taxi licences pursuant to S.I. No. 3 of 2000 pending the determination of this application for judicial review. Further implementation of the Government programme awaits the outcome of these High Court proceedings.
