Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Alan Kelly)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am bringing forward the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012, as amended by the Seanad. This Bill provides a robust legislative basis for strengthened enforcement of the taxi regulations necessitating the updating and replacement of the current Taxi Regulation Act 2003. It is a good day for the taxi sector that this Bill is being brought forward, and I am delighted that the work of the last two years is bearing fruit in this detailed legislation that will have a major impact on a sector and a community we do not often recognise – the taxi sector.

This Bill is a key step in honouring the commitment in the programme for Government to review and update the regulation of taxis. I believe this to be the most comprehensive legislation relating to the taxi sector in the State. It replaces the previous 2003 Act which was written quickly in the aftermath of a court case that famously struck down the previous regulatory regime. The old legislation failed both consumers and drivers in a number of respects and was left in place over ten years by a succession of Fianna Fáil Ministers. The Bill underpins a new approach to taxi regulation, with a series of radical and reforming changes to the taxi sector that embrace new technology and have been sought by many players in this field for years.

The taxi regulation review group, which I chaired, made key recommendations concerning the improvement of standards and enforcement of the taxi regulations. The Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011 was endorsed by Government in January 2012. We believed the taxi sector is important enough to have a Minister chair such a group after almost a decade of political neglect, and this is what occurred. The review group brought together representatives of all the key stakeholders – dispatch operators and taxi drivers, consumer representative groups, relevant Departments and regulatory and enforcement agencies. It carried out a wide-ranging review of the sector, which included a public consultation process involving an opportunity for written submissions on the review and oral presentations from key stakeholder groups. A parallel public consultation on vehicle standards was carried out by the National Transport Authority.

In drawing up its recommended measures, the review group was assisted by an independent economic analysis carried out by Indecon economic consultants. The Indecon analysis concluded that there is an oversupply of SPSV vehicles in the range of 13 to 22% of the current fleet. In Indecon’s view, the level of oversupply is influenced by the impact of non-compliant operators in the sector and by the low level of exit from the industry.

The review was also established following a now famous "Prime Time Investigates" documentary which highlighted unsavoury practices and individuals in the taxi sector. It would not be fair to say this was typical of all taxi drivers but problems certainly existed. For the consumer, it was almost impossible to distinguish between legitimate operators and those who flouted the regulations. Taxi drivers who did their business honestly were seeing their livelihoods destroyed by the unscrupulous operators with whom they had to compete. The review was established and carried out in that context. The final report consisted of 46 separate actions and I am glad to report the majority of them have been implemented on and the rest of them will follow shortly.

Enforcement was one of the primary issues raised by driver representatives. The review report indicated that a number of legislative changes would be required to strengthen enforcement and ensure compliance with the taxi regulations. I am satisfied that the measures set out in the Bill strike an appropriate balance between consumer interests, the interests of operators in the industry and the need for the regulatory bodies to be able to undertake proportionate and effective oversight. I have had further opportunity since publication of the Bill last December to consider the views of the industry stakeholders and representations made by the taxi advisory committee concerning the Bill, and I am confident that the new enforcement provisions of this Bill will be broadly welcomed by the industry and consumers alike.

Particular concerns were expressed about licences being passed from husband to wife or from a parent to a son or daughter on death of the holder and for the continuation of a business. I have, accordingly, amended the legislation to allow for a taxi licence holder to nominate a third party to whom the licence can be transferred. I will elaborate on this provision later.

The new legislation will provide for a much more sophisticated enforcement toolkit. The enforcement regime that will be adopted in future will be based on a graduated approach to tackling non-compliance depending on the gravity of the criminal offence or compliance failure. It is also designed to speed up the prosecution of offenders and the administration of justice. The Bill ensures that enforcement and compliance start at the point of entry to the industry. The mandatory disqualification of drivers from holding a small public service vehicle, SPSV, licence under Part 4, mandatory disqualification, will ensure people with convictions on indictment for the most serious of violent crimes will be excluded from the industry. A key recommendation arising from the taxi regulation review was the commencement of legislative provision for mandatory disqualification. The provision has been on the Statute B ook since 2003 in the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, but it has not yet been commenced due to concerns over its proportionality and administration. This meant that when gardaí refused licences to individuals they believed to be inappropriate to hold a taxi licence, they were overruled in court. I am sure many Deputies can recall some of these cases.

The underlying policy principles for the mandatory disqualification provisions are: to ensure the welfare and the safety of passengers of small public service vehicle transport services, particularly in situations where a passenger is travelling alone in a taxi; and proportionate application of the mandatory disqualification provision to avoid any risk of legal challenge on the basis of the constitutional right to earn a living, with regard to excluding persons from operating in the taxi industry. The proportionality issue is addressed in the Bill as follows: specifying the most serious of offences in the Schedule, for which conviction on indictment constitutes a demonstration through previous criminal actions of the propensity of the person to harm another person; and allowing for a tiered system of disqualification, based on a consideration of the seriousness of the offences in the Schedule. The most serious of these offences are in Part 1 of the Schedule, which result in disqualification for life from the date of conviction.

With regard to disqualification in the case of the offences listed in Part 2 of the Schedule, there is a tiered system of disqualification periods based on the severity and length of the sentence imposed upon conviction, to which additional years of disqualification are applied. In less grave cases where a fine only or a suspended prison sentence is imposed, the disqualification period is 12 months. In more serious cases the disqualification period can range from an additional two years, where the term of imprisonment imposed is between three and five years, up to the top end of the scale, where an additional five years disqualification period applies where the term of imprisonment imposed is more than seven years. Appeals are open to all under the mandatory disqualification provision, thereby allowing the courts on a case-by-case basis to assess the suitability of individuals to hold a licence. In order to be proportionate, the mandatory disqualification provision is applied retrospectively. A stay of 12 months is provided for with regard to licence holders who have convictions dating prior to enactment of the Bill to allow those persons to appeal their disqualification to the courts. If the appeal is not made within the 12 month period or such an appeal fails, the person is disqualified and the licence stands revoked.

Section 29 obliges licence holders and applicants to notify the licensing authority of their conviction for any offence falling under the mandatory disqualification provision. A licence applicant must supply this notification at the time of application. In the case of a licence holder the notification must be supplied no later than one month from the date of conviction, or in the case of convictions prior to enactment, within one month of enactment of the Bill. I believe that the provision for mandatory disqualification will be a vast improvement in strengthening the existing vetting system carried out by An Garda Síochána in its administration of the SPSV driver licensing system.

Furthermore, these provisions will apply to convictions outside the state and the list of offences has been improved to take into account serious traffic offences. Certain individuals who have licences should not be driving taxis. The legislation will directly address that issue. To clarify an issue raised by a number of taxi representative groups, the provisions of this section will apply to people with equivalent convictions from outside the State. There is a contention that many local taxi drivers feel they are discriminated against vis à vis foreign nationals. Finally, the Bill allows for the number of enforcement officers to be increased, a measure that will be of major benefit to the sector.

The licensing authority for SPSV licences is the National Transport Authority and An Garda Síochána in the case of driver licences. The Bill provides for the possibility that the administration role now undertaken by the Garda will pass to the NTA at some point in the future. However it is envisaged that vetting of applicants and licence holders will remain a Garda function. More robust licensing and assessment provisions in Part 2, SPSV licensing, will give powers to the licensing authorities to refuse to grant a licence application or to revoke or suspend a licence based on an assessment of the suitability of the person to hold a licence under section 10. This includes consideration of convictions for any offence, in addition to the offences in the Schedule, that have relevance to the assessment of suitability with regard to providing a service to passengers and use of SPSV vehicles. The licensing authority may under section 12, revocation and suspension of a licence, decide to revoke or suspend a licence where it is satisfied that the person is no longer suitable to hold a license based on its consideration of whether the person has contravened the taxi regulations or code of practice established or adopted by the NTA under section 20, code of practice. Section 13 provides for a system of representations and appeals with regard to decisions of the licensing authority to refuse to grant a licence application or to suspend or revoke a licence, with a final appeal made available through the District Court.

For licence holders, the new demerit scheme under Part 5 will deal with recurrent breaches of the taxi regulations. This scheme is based on the penalty points system for driving licences but there will be no overlap between the operation of the two systems. Under the SPSV demerit scheme, offences which constitute breaches of the taxi regulations are specified in section 32, dealing with demerit offences. The table in section 33, endorsement of demerits, sets out the number of demerits applicable upon payment of a fixed charge or upon conviction for each demerit offence. The period of endorsement of demerits on an SPSV licence is three years. Disqualification by reason of demerits is automatic on obtaining a total number of demerits equal to or exceeding eight and the disqualification is for a period of three months. The appropriate date for commencement of a period of disqualification arising under the demerit scheme will be 28 days after notice is given for disqualification or some further date to be determined in the courts in the case of an appeal against a conviction for a demerit offence that is relevant to the disqualification. To give one example of a demerit, should a taxi driver deliberately take a customer on a longer journey for the purpose of increasing the fare, if this is investigated and found to be an offence, the driver concerned could be given a demerit.

Section 46, dealing with fixed payment offences, provides for fixed payment offences for contravention of the regulations on a range of regulatory matters that can be enforced by the NTA enforcement officers and, in the case of specified offences, also by members of An Garda Síochána. The level of fees payable for a fixed payment offence will be established by regulations made by the NTA. In addition, the fixed payment offences are also demerit offences under Part 5, dealing with the demerit scheme. Therefore, on a fixed payment or conviction for a fixed payment offence the specified number of demerits will be endorsed on an SPSV licence.

The on-street enforcement resources of the National Transport Authority will be supported by resources obtained under service agreements as provided for under section 48. Changes made to the provision for authorised persons under the Bill in section 38 will allow for persons under service agreements to carry out all or any of the functions of authorised officers, as specified under warrant of appointment from the authority.

Conduct and compliance at taxi ranks is also addressed in the Bill. Section 24 provides for specific offences relating to a breach of the parameters for use of taxi stands that are specified in by-laws made by the local authorities, for example, the offence of standing with a taxi on a part of a public road adjoining a taxi stand when the taxi rank is full. Section 42 will allow the National Transport Authority to use cameras, closed circuit television or other apparatus to build its evidence base with regard to breaches of the regulations and offences involving small public service vehicles, SPSVs, at taxi stands.

The Bill strikes a balance between concern for the quality of service and safety for the passengers in small public service vehicles, while also setting out the obligations on passengers with regard to SPSV services under section 27. Furthermore, the coherence of the overall regulatory and enforcement framework contained in the Bill is simplified and streamlined into three core areas where the National Transport Authority has powers to make regulations, namely, SPSV licensing, the assessment of licence applications and SPSV operations and standards. This constitutes a refinement and streamlining of the previous regulatory powers under sections 34 and 39 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, and provides greater clarity for all those involved in the taxi industry.

During its passage through the Seanad, I took the opportunity to review and refine certain aspect of the Bills and introduced some necessary additional legal provisions. I will outline the more significant changes I introduced for the information of the Deputies. I introduced a new provision providing for the prohibition on transfer of an small public service vehicle licence. The unanimous view of the taxi review group was that licences should be personal to licence holders and awarded on the grounds of suitability, rather than on the basis of having bought out an incumbent operator. The taxi regulation review report recommended a prohibition on the transfer of SPSV licences. Advice received from senior counsel in the Office of the Attorney General confirmed that the policy principle for such a prohibition was sound and the risk of any successful legal challenge against this legislative measure would be low, in particular, as progressive regulatory changes over time had been moving in this direction, thereby acting as a signal to the market of the possibility of ending the transfer in licences. It was possible, therefore, to introduce in the Seanad a provision prohibiting the transfer of SPSV licences. The provision did not provide for an exception to be made concerning a consequent revocation of an SPSV licence upon the death of an SPSV licence holder. For this reason, I also introduced a provision for death of a licence holder, which will enable the continuity of an SPSV business in the event of the death of an SPSV licence holder. Under the new section a licence applicant or holder will be able to nominate his or her representative to the National Transport Authority. Upon the death of the licence holder, the nominated representative may, within three months, apply to continue to operate the licence until expiry and apply for the licence renewal thereafter.

I also introduced a new provision dealing with the obligation on a licence holder to notify other employment he or she may have. Action 3 of the taxi regulation review report of 2011 aims to ensure, in the case of part-time drivers, improved compliance with working time legislation. This issue came under the spotlight in the "Prime Time Investigates" programme broadcast in May 2011, which found that part-time SPSV drivers were engaged in other employment driving public service vehicles and driving excessively long hours, which presented a risk to the safety of passengers, themselves and other road users. A provision was introduced to the Bill for a system of notification to the National Transport Authority by an SPSV driver licence applicant or holder concerning his or her alternative employment involving driving. The provision relates to the National Transport Authority powers under section 19 to make small public service vehicle regulations concerning the period of time a driver may drive an SPSV and the intervals of rest between driving an SPSV, after having driven a vehicle in the course of other employment.

Some amendments have been made to the enforcement provisions affecting taxi drivers under section 24 concerning appointed stands. The taxi advisory committee has, since first publication of the Bill, made representation to me raising concerns regarding the attachment of demerits to offences relating to appointed stands. It indicated that in light of the lack of availability of taxi spaces relative to the number of taxis, the proposed penalty was too harsh as it resulted in a suspension of a licence. On foot of these concerns, amendments were made to the system of penalties concerning appointed stands. In particular, the imposition of demerits for such offences was removed. The new offence regarding the failure of a taxi driver to move on following contravention of section 24 was also removed.

With regard to the system of offences and sanctions concerning appointed stands, the physical barrier in terms of limited taxi ranks spaces in proportion to the available number of taxis currently has necessitated a fine balance to be struck in the legal provision in the Bill in order that enforcement at taxi stands can still be achieved without creating unintended negative consequences. Overall the new provisions I have introduced further reflect the policy recommendations of the taxi review group and are in line with overall Government policy for reform of the taxi regulations.

I intend to move a small number of amendments on Committee Stage. Among the key changes that are required is an amendment to deal with the application of the prohibition on transfer in the case of a licence held by a company in the event of the death of a member of the company. I am now in a position to move this amendment on foot of legal advice received from the Office of the Attorney General. I will propose a necessary amendment to the Legal Metrology Act 1995, which will ensure greater accountability by operators of taxis with regard to contravention of the rules applying to taximeters.

I will also introduce a provision which will exclude from the application of the SPSV regulations any community car service that fulfils specified criteria relating to its operation on a not-for-profit basis. Many such community car services are operated under the rural transport programme which is administered by the National Transport Authority. This amendment is necessary to remove any ambiguity concerning the continued operation of such community car services in the context of the licensing requirements provided for in the Bill.

The Bill is a major improvement on the existing legislative framework. It is a more precise statement of the powers of the regulator, principles and process for licensing and assessment and operational standards required by licence holders. This will give clarity to potential new market entrants, licence holders in the industry and SPSV passengers concerning the quality and standard of service to expect.

The Bill sets out clearly the consequences for applicants and licence holders for failing to meet suitability standards or contravening the regulations. The provisions facilitate the development of a greater physical enforcement presence and capability to effectively enforce the taxi regulations. It will improve the speed of dealing with regulatory breaches through fixed payment offences and the new demerit scheme, even before such issues reach the courts.

The new enforcement measures and refinement of the regulatory framework contained in the provisions of the Bill are essential to support the future regulatory regime where only suitable and compliant drivers and operators can benefit within the SPSV industry. Moreover, passengers can be confident that SPSV services are of a high quality and are safe to travel in.

In addition, the legislation implements numerous measures that will improve the taxi sector, including: a major clean-up of the rental sector with strict controls for multiple licence holders; a Smartphone app that will allow consumers verify the credentials of their taxi driver before they enter the cab; a real time data link-up between the National Transport Authority, Revenue and Department of Social Protection; semi-permanent branding to encourage higher standards of professionalism and make it more difficult to operate illegally in the sector; a reduction in the specifications for wheelchair accessible vehicles to make them cheaper; and the introduction of continuous tax compliance measures for drivers. These and many more changes in the legislation will serve to better the sector. I commend the Bill to the House.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive overview he provided and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Bill. While my party and I support the overwhelming majority of the provisions it contains - particularly the new criminal sanctions - we do not support the provision which prohibits the transfer of taxi licences. I will deal with that matter in some detail later and I hope we can have a more in-depth discussion in respect of it on Committee Stage.

Overall, the Bill is likely to improve the quality of taxi services in this State. Recognising the changes that have occurred in the economy and the considerable level of oversupply which developed in the taxi market as a result of activity in the boom times, it was only right and fitting that a comprehensive review was carried out. The Government announced such a review in May 2011 in the wake of the "Prime Time Investigates" programme on the sector. While those who produced "Prime Time Investigates" received criticism in the House in respect of some of their other work, it is appropriate to highly commend their work in this instance. The programme to which I refer shone a light on certain practices in the taxi industry which any right-minded individual - not to mention legislator - would find unacceptable. RTE and the "Prime Time Investigates" team are owed a debt of gratitude for their work in respect of this matter. The undercover footage featured in the programme showed taxi drivers double-jobbing, fighting at ranks, driving unsafe cars and carrying too many passengers in unlicensed vehicles. It also showed cars passing the NCT test after their owners had paid bribes. That was a shocking indictment not just of the regulatory system but also of a culture that was allowed to develop and exist over a prolonged period. The programme also brought into question whether the State was able to say with some level of authority that taxis represented a safe method of transport for citizens and for those who visit our country. In that context, the new criminal sanctions to which I referred earlier are most welcome.

The purpose of the review of the taxi industry was to consider all aspects of the industry, including matters relating to enforcement and licensing. The taxi regulation review report published last January contains 46 recommendations in respect of driver licensing, vehicle standards and wheelchair accessibility. While many of those recommendations can be implemented by means of regulation, it was also necessary to introduce legislation. We have gone through the Bill in detail and, as already stated, we broadly support it. The taxi regulation review report proposes actions under six categories: compliance and enforcement; consumer and industry assurance; driver licensing; vehicle licensing and standards; accessible services; and fleet management and rental controls. A number of new regulations have already been introduced, particularly in respect of branding and wheelchair-accessible taxis.

There has been some criticism in respect of branding. Some people believe that the new branding brings unwanted attention on the owners of taxis and their homes. In other words, it places them in a vulnerable position. A number of individuals have raised this matter with me and stated that in the past they could remove the taxi signs from the roofs of their cars when they had finished work. The fact that there is a permanent sticker on the side of their cars now is causing concern for some of them because they believe this indicates to criminal elements that they are small business owners who are likely to have cash about them late at night. Those to whom I refer are of the view that this may act as an incentive for those criminal elements to target them. I have listened to the concerns expressed and while I accept them to some degree, I am of the view that it is appropriate that the process of branding should continue, particularly as it allows ordinary people and the staff of the Department and the NTA to identify legitimate taxis. It will also bring about - in a gradual way - a recognition that being a taxi driver or operator is a profession and is not just something a person does on occasion in order to earn quick cash. The latter perception has created a problem for the industry because so many people see taxi driving as a part-time enterprise. This has undermined the capacity of full-time drivers to earn a decent wage while practising their profession. While I accept that there are concerns, I am of the view that the approach being taken is proportionate.

I am also of the view that the decision not to insist on taxis being of a universal colour, make or model was correct. In the United States, it is possible to use only certain car makes and models as taxis and these vehicles must all be the same colour. Imposing such a system here would place an undue burden on the industry, particularly in the current circumstances. However, this matter can be reviewed as the impact of the conditions to which I refer is felt in the market.

The Minister of State referred to the Indecon assessment of market demand and supply. Indecon did a good job in carrying out an analysis of the taxi market. One of the key findings of that analysis is that demand for small public service vehicle, SPSV, services has fallen significantly since 2008, in line with a general fall in consumer expenditure. There is nothing particularly revealing in this regard, and we have all become aware of this in our consultations with those who ply their trade within the taxi industry. It is difficult to measure the level of demand with precision but Indecon estimates indicate that overall aggregate demand is likely to be in range of 67 to 74 million trips per annum. Some estimates suggest higher levels but Indecon’s base case suggests a figure of 67 million trips per annum. The latter is a significant number and it allows for an analysis to be carried out by the NTA and policy makers in the context of trying to match supply with demand. The level of oversupply and the lack of demand have led to a deterioration in the quality of the service available. As many individuals have struggled to survive, pay their mortgages and keep their cars on the road and ensure they are properly serviced, of course they have taken shortcuts. This is evident from the quality of some vehicles and the way in which they are maintained. It is important that a balance is maintained and that an ongoing assessment of the levels of supply and demand is carried out in order to ensure that oversupply does not lead to a further degradation of the service.

It is not so long ago that an undersupply of taxis had a detrimental impact on the service. For some time people just accepted that it would not be possible to hail a taxi on certain nights of the week. This had an impact on tourism and on the growth and development of Dublin city and was factored into reports relating to tourism and business. It was important, therefore, that matters were put right through deregulation. I accept, of course, that there has been considerable fallout from deregulation but it is important to recognise how the latter improved the quality of experience for consumers. We must ensure that the opposite is not allowed to occur. It has already happened to a degree as a result of oversupply in the market.

When the market was at its peak in 2008, there were an estimated 100 million taxi trips per annum. Indecon's analysis suggests that overall demand for SPSV services may have fallen by approximately 33% since 2008. This should indicate to policy makers such as the Minister of State that the matter must be kept under review. While I accept that the legislation will not limit the number of taxi licences in existence, that will be the impact of the qualitative measures it contains. The Minister of State should not place beyond his own reach the capacity to intervene in the market at a later stage or to consider the quantitative element of the issuance of licences, particularly if the qualitative approach set out in the Bill in respect of vehicles and the provisions regarding the suitability of individuals who seek licences do not prove overly effective in the context of balancing the levels of supply and demand.

I hope that the Minister of State will keep an eye on this matter and refer to it later.

The number of licences stands at approximately 24,000, down from a peak of 27,000. Recent figures show a further decline in the number of licensed small public service vehicles, SPSVs, most notably among hackneys. The Indecon report states:

- The extent of oversupply which currently exists in the Irish taxi-SPSV market has economic consequences, both for taxi operators and for wider society.

- Low levels of utilisation in the sector mean that it is difficult for drivers to earn an adequate income and this can lead to drivers working very long hours and in some cases over the maximum permitted levels.

This reverts to my previous point on how to make the industry attractive enough financially to ensure that those who want to be full-time taxi drivers can be while discouraging those who cherry-pick at weekends in so far as is possible. The barriers should be increased. Some of the measures contained in the Bill will do so, but they do not go far enough in protecting the individual who has set his or her mind on being a professional taxi driver.

Some people on the periphery view it as a means of earning an income. They have rights in this regard. I have met them. Opposition politicians often take everyone's side and seek to support same, but that is not the case in this instance. It is a question of the service to the consumer. One must work back from that principle. If one is serious about it, one must ensure that the professional providing the service is given a framework in which to do so without his or her position constantly being eroded.

A negative impact of the level of oversupply is the congestion on road networks in major cities and towns during peak periods. In this regard, I welcome the amendments introduced by the Minister of State in the Seanad. In terms of the demerit scheme, for example, the amendment regarding people who, being unable to join a rank, park just short of it was a sensible one and took cognisance of the points raised.

The Indecon report states, "A differential regulatory approach should be considered for major urban centres and for rural areas where there are likely to be very different supply and demand balances". Being from rural Ireland, the Minister of State is familiar with taxi drivers' issues in Nenagh and Roscrea just as I am with issues in Ennis, Kilrush and Kilkee. The one-shoe-fits-all approach is not the right one. The differential regulatory approach for rural areas should focus on ways of assisting entry into rural markets where there is a supply shortage. The community car scheme to which the Minister of State referred is a sensible idea, although I am unsure as to whether it would apply to publicans who have made vehicles available. I welcome the indication that it would. As a result of changes in drink driving laws and the lack of rural transport, many community-minded publicans have put services in place at considerable cost to themselves. It is appropriate that a different approach be taken to their regulation. Most of the time, their services are not hire for reward, but are provided as an additional service so that people might get home.

The impact of the Bill will be difficult to assess but it is likely to restrict entry into the taxi industry on qualitative grounds. It may also lead to a number of those currently in the industry leaving it. This is a positive, as their departure will allow for a focus on those who are committed to the sector. I hope that the Bill will ensure a greater level of compliance. It is likely to provide for a better, more sustainable industry, one of which we as a country can be proud. This is important in terms of the image we portray. Often, we fail to recognise the fact that a country's lasting image is the first one visitors have when they arrive. It is a question of how they get through an airport, what kind of transport is available from there to a hotel and who they meet at the hotel reception. If one ties these factors into tourism and business opportunities, the taxi driver and his or her vehicle play an important role in making that first impression. It is right that we continue in this vein to improve that role.

Everything highlighted in the "Prime Time Investigates" programme required that an appropriate system of mandatory disqualification be put in place. Some people are unsuitable and unfit to drive public service vehicles, PSVs, because of their own decisions. As with any other job, certain convictions affect people's applications. While there may be hard luck stories, the State must, in the first instance, protect the industry's reputation as well as the country's reputation and image. Therefore, I support this measure.

I welcome the demerits that the Minister of State identified. I also welcome his amendment to the demerit scheme. However, issues concerning the vetting procedures have been raised with me by Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann. At the outset of the work undertaken by the review body one of the aims was to clean up the sector and allow consumer confidence to return to the industry. Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann does not believe that the review has tackled these issues, as no recommendations have been forwarded to change the vetting procedures substantially to ensure public safety and consumer confidence. A standard higher than that of the private security industry should be retrospectively implemented. As consumer confidence is paramount, no driver unable to meet this improved standard should be granted an SPSV licence.

Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann disagrees with some elements of the Minister of State's comments on the taxi review group, namely, that it had unanimously tabled the notion that transferring licences should not be possible. Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann argues that despite speaking for a large group of independent taxi drivers, it was not represented on the review body and its opinion was not taken into account. I accept that not everyone can be represented but I would at least have hoped that the Minister of State could have taken some of this group's issues into consideration.

Deputy Alan Kelly

Trust me, I did.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I have met Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann a number of times.

Deputy Alan Kelly

So have I.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I have gone over its various documents and proposals, some of which seem sensible.

Deputy Alan Kelly

Some of them-----

Deputy Timmy Dooley

As the Minister of State has seen, I am trying to be helpful.

Deputy Alan Kelly

I know.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

I am not jumping on an Opposition bandwagon. Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann would make a strong case about the issue of transferability in particular. It is justifiable that an individual with more than one taxi licence should be able to transfer those licences to a company, which would operate as an entity and shares in which - or the company itself - could be sold, thereby allowing for transferability in perpetuity. Perhaps the Minister of State intends to introduce a regulation in this regard. I support his measure that allows for a licence to be transferred to a surviving spouse, partner or so on following the death of a licenceholder. The Minister of State referred to the case of a company director's death. Will he provide further details in this regard on Committee Stage? A corporate entity with share capital and the provisions of a limited company has the capacity to own licences and can be sold, meaning that the licence could be transferred and would remain in perpetuity. I look forward to the Minister of State's response on this matter.

Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann believes that a buy-back scheme should be put in place to allow for an exit from the industry. While the Minister of State is not of a mind to do so, such a scheme would allow the numbers to be tightened. People who should not be in the industry are spoiling it for the full-timers. The scheme might act as an incentive and help to reduce the oversupply.

The Minister of State spoke about providing the NTA with the capacity to set guidelines and regulations by virtue of the fact that a driver must notify the transport authority of any other driving-related work. Such information must be on a person's file. I am somewhat confused about the extent to which the authority will be able to implement the types of measure I wish to be implemented. It is wholly inappropriate for someone to spend eight hours a day working with construction equipment, doing intricate tasks or working behind a desk, which can be equally demanding on one’s concentration, before spending another eight or ten hours driving a SPSV. Similarly, under the current system, someone who drives a bus all day can drive a public service vehicle. That is not safe, and the issue must be examined. I do not underestimate the difficulties involved in dealing with this. While powers might be given to the transport authority, I question the extent to which it will be able to introduce regulations to manage or monitor what someone is doing in what might be considered private time in another industry. It is difficult to see how that approach could work. However, I look forward to such regulation because the issue is probably one of the more important ones from a road safety point of view. It would also help deal with the oversupply of taxis by virtue of preventing part-timers from coming into the market. I look forward to discussing matters in greater detail on Committee Stage and to seeing the amendments the Minister of State intends to table. We will work co-operatively and constructively with him in trying to bring forward legislation that has the capacity to enhance and improve the taxi service in this country.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

It is a very difficult time to be a small business operator, a sole trader. The cost of doing business is high and the amount of cash available for people to spend is getting smaller and smaller. These are bad conditions for the operation of a business, and in such times people who are self-employed need support and help. That is not to say we should subsidise or prop up unviable businesses, but we must support people to allow them to make a living and stay in work. Keeping people in work is a vital role for the Government to play in an economic crisis such as the one we have been experiencing for approximately the past four years. Government Members will probably agree with that statement, but certainly in the case of taxi drivers the Government is doing the exact opposite.

Certain issues make the taxi industry somewhat unique, but taxi drivers are business people and workers. Their place of business - their car, which in nearly all cases they never fully own - is their office. While they do not have to contend with upward-only rent reviews, the Government is intent on making it hard for them to do business in the already difficult climate. There is no denying business is bad for taxi drivers, and something needs to change. However, the Bill offers little. In the time it took to complete the Indecon report, which was carried out as part of the taxi industry review, a thousand vehicles left the industry. However, there is still an oversupply of taxis on the streets. There are many reasons for that. When it was established that the previous regulatory system was not legal the then Government, of which Fianna Fáil was the major party, decided it was preferable to have a free-for-all rather than introducing a new regulatory system. That was Progressive-Democrats-driven ideology based on the belief that the market could manage all regulation. It was the same ideology that allowed Seanie FitzPatrick and Michael Fingleton to carry on unabated.

Deregulation became a problem when the economic circumstances of the State improved to a considerable extent and people saw money in taxis that they never saw previously. There were soon 27,000 taxis on the roads, with a large proportion of them in Dublin and other urban centres. At the time there was business to be done, although, just as the housing boom thundered on, no questions were asked about sustainability. In 2008, when the downturn had already begun, an estimated 100 million trips were being taken in taxis each year. In 2012 the number of taxi trips was estimated to be approximately 70 million. That does not represent utter collapse, but when the number of taxis is high it means a lot of people are fighting for the same business. Ranks that had previously moved quickly ground to a halt and taxis were left circling while waiting for a space. What were once tiring days of constant work for drivers became tiring days of desperately seeking business and counting again and again how much had been made in a week and how much in arrears on his or her mortgage a driver would be.

Taxi drivers are struggling hard. In recent years, far too many have decided they had nothing to live for and took their own lives. No one can be certain why those people chose that option for themselves, but it is likely the dire economic circumstances faced by most of them was a contributory factor. Their colleagues who survive them certainly believe that is the case. It is believed that 25 taxi drivers took their lives between 2008 and 2010. With those awful problems in mind, we must look to find a way forward. We must examine the Bill and appraise how it seeks to deal with the problems in the industry.

I take issue with the problems that have been identified and the priority given to them. The report of the taxi review group highlighted the massive oversupply of taxis and the large downturn in demand. However, that was not the major issue the Government chose to address. It did not decide that if the plan is to regulate the industry further, it must ensure its sustainability. Instead, the Minister has decided to go for the red herring of tackling criminality. That is not to say criminality should not be stamped out of the industry; of course it should. All decent, honest drivers - that is, the vast majority of drivers - agree with that. We already have laws against the criminal behaviour that goes on in the industry but the Garda is unable to enforce them due to underfunding. The work has also been hampered by the massive swell in the number of taxis due to deregulation. Policing the taxi industry is a serious job and cannot be done without resources.

The reality is that the majority of taxi drivers have no conviction for an offence and drive their taxis within the law, and issues do not arise in regard to them. The Minister asserts there are 6,000 drivers with criminal convictions. One could ask how many offences relate to non-payment of fines. A large proportion of people in Mountjoy Prison are there because they did not pay their TV licence fees. A total of 377 complaints were made about taxis in 2012. Given the 70 million trips that most likely took place that year, that is a very small number of complaints. People are happy with the taxi service and, by and large, they feel safe - as much as one could expect. In fact, taxi drivers are more likely to be victims of violence or crime than their customers.

It goes without saying that people with convictions for murder, rape or sexual assault should not be allowed to hire themselves out to drive people around in their cars. However, people who were convicted of a minor offence 20 years ago but have had no problems since then, who have been operating a taxi for ten years or more, should not be in fear of their employment. A suspension for even a short period would put their business in jeopardy. The correct approach would be to limit the schedules included and put in place a comprehensive vetting procedure at the point of entry, with a standard threshold which must be met.

I accept that we must protect the public, but we cannot play with people's livelihoods in this manner in order to act tough on crime when the crimes we are talking about are irrelevant to the job being done. The Minister will try to paint this in such a way as to say that I want to allow rapists to drive taxis, as he has attempted on previous occasions when the issue was raised, but that is nonsense. It is bluff and distraction. In so far as I can see there are legal problems with impugning someone's right to earn a living based on something that is totally irrelevant to his or her ability to do the job. The real danger to the public is from tired taxi drivers operating vehicles on public roads with passengers. The Minister must take steps to discourage people who work 39 hours a week in another job from driving around the cities and towns of Ireland in taxis at night and on weekends.

A public safety issue is being ignored here. An independent appeals process is also missing from this Bill, as well as measures to ensure accountability on taxi policy from the NTA and the advisory committee, which do not have the confidence of taxi drivers, in my experience. These bodies should at least be directly accountable to a Dáil committee on a twice-yearly basis.

Policy measures to deal with oversupply are also missing from this Bill. Such measures are being implemented on the basis of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003. The basic policy is to make things harder for as many taxi drivers as possible until enough of them are run out of the business. Cost after cost has been heaped upon drivers over the last year. Drivers have been asked to fork out for pointless branding signs, licence fees have gone up, NCT costs have risen, fuel prices have risen, and cars must be newer and must meet more stringent guidelines. I met a father and son who operated a taxi together, as their only source of income, for many years. The taxi was licensed to the father. Just as he was about to retire, a rule was put in place that cars being licensed to new people must be three years old or less. He could not afford to replace the car and as transferability was ending, his son is now out of the only business he knows. I have met drivers who bought new cars and found during the process of licensing them that the regulations had changed and that they could not be licensed without significant changes, costing thousands of euro. Of course we must have regulation, and I support the ending of the system whereby taxi licences were sold on the open market, but we must regulate in a way that works for the industry and ensures that people do not lose their business and are not put out of business wrongly. These people were not criminals. They were simply trying to make a living, but the Government's regulations have forced them out of the industry.

Recently I raised the issue of the introduction of new age limits on cars, with specific reference to wheelchair-accessible vehicles, WAVs. Such vehicles are very expensive, but it is Government policy to expand the fleet of WAVs. The requirement that vehicles must be three years old or less on entering service and must leave the industry at 14 years makes it much more difficult for drivers to make a living with WAVs. Of course there should be age limits on vehicles, but all of these vehicles undergo NCTs. If they are on the road and faulty, then we really need to look at the NCT system and not draw arbitrary lines in the sand. I accept that such lines make it easier to ensure quality, but in the specific case of WAVs, it makes them less economically viable in all circumstances. The Minister of State refused to explain how he plans to offset this difficulty. He fobbed me off with a standard response from the NTA explaining age limits. I ask that he address this issue today.

The problem with many of the measures to tackle oversupply is they are completely indiscriminate and, in that respect, they end up hitting full-time, ordinary single-licence taxi drivers the hardest. These drivers are the ones with the least disposable cash to absorb the rise in costs. They are the ones who have been hit hardest by the oversupply caused by weekend taxi drivers who have full-time jobs elsewhere or people who bought up large numbers of licences and rented them out. The full-time single-licence drivers are the backbone of the industry. They are not there just on a Saturday night to bring one home from the pub but also on a Monday at dawn when one is in a rush to the airport. They are being hit the hardest. Some of the people who see no better way than to end their lives in this post-Celtic-tiger collapse are coming from their ranks.

I wish to raise an issue that is very important to me and that I have raised with the Minister of State on many occasions in the past. I also mentioned it in my speech on the Good Friday Agreement last night. The enactment of the Bill will mean that people who were convicted of offences as part of the conflict in the North, who were recognised by the Agreement and its terms, will be asked to appeal to keep their licences or will be barred from entering the industry. This is wrong. The Good Friday Agreement, which this State signed up to and has a duty to uphold, is clear in opposing barriers to employment for former political prisoners. The people of this country overwhelmingly backed the Agreement, but the Minister of State and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, have shown little regard for it. Last night the Minister of State indicated that he supported the Good Friday Agreement and I am now asking him to put his money where his mouth is.

Deputy Finian McGrath

Hear, hear.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

The Minister and Minister of State are putting the livelihoods of many families at risk. There are quite a large number of former political prisoners who have found work as taxi drivers. They have worked without issue for years. They are known to be pillars of their communities, hard-working and honest. They should not have to beg for their jobs.

I am a former political prisoner. Many leading members of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the past were former political prisoners when they served in this House. I asked last night whether I am not fit to be a taxi driver. I ask the Minister of State today if Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy, Joe McGrath, Proinsias De Rossa, Éamon De Valera and Seán Lemass, all former political prisoners, were not fit to drive taxis. The Minister of State has said in the past that this is a matter for the Minister for Justice and Equality and can be dealt with under spent convictions legislation, but that is bluff and rubbish.

Deputy Alan Kelly

Why did Sinn Féin not raise this issue in the Seanad? It was not raised there.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

There is plenty of time for amendments. I have raised this matter countless times and the Minister of State knows that. He should not be trying to pass the buck.

All legislation moved through this House should honour the international agreements signed by the State. Would the Minister of State argue that it was a matter for Deputy Lucinda Creighton if a Bill he produced was not in accordance with an EU treaty? In the North, a similar attempt was made to bar political prisoners from driving taxis but Daniel McComb took a case against this and won. The court ruled that the State had no right to discriminate in this manner. Given the Irish constitutional protection for the right to make a living, I have no doubt a similar case would be successful in this State should this section of the Bill remain. I also have no doubt such a case will be brought. I call on the Minister of State, if he wants to avoid this, to look again at the approach taken in the Bill and to exclude those covered by the Good Friday Agreement. My party could not support any Bill that puts up barriers to former political prisoners.

I welcome the Minister of State's current position on the transferability of licences. Transferability is very important and is something the industry has sought. I look forward to dealing with the relevant amendments to the Bill in this regard. I also look forward to analysing what the company transfer entails, because the issue of an uneven playing field is also important in the industry. I will study the proposed changes. I am also interested in the provisions concerning rural hackney licences, dealt with in section 46 of the review group's report. I ask the Minister of State to outline the plan in this regard. One could argue that we are creating a three-tier taxi system, with taxi licences, hackney licences and rural hackney licences. It appears that the rules relating to rural hackney licences are far less stringent and costly than those relating to the other two licence types. I am not dismissing the provisions out of hand, but I would like to hear more from the Minister of State on this. I am particularly keen to find out what it will mean for rural Ireland because, as we know, rural pubs, which are so important socially to rural communities, are in deep trouble.

I have said for a long time that there is a need for a vetting Bill specifically for the taxi industry. In Spain, for instance, only citizens are allowed to drive taxis, and several other European countries require a person to be resident for at least five years before he or she can drive a taxi. I am not saying that is what we should do, but we must examine this issue. If it is fair that a person from this country is vetted, then it is fair that everyone be vetted. Some have argued that the vetting process is unfair because it is not applied to everyone across the board. I ask the Minister of State to consider this issue.

Other industries, including the security industry, have it and it is only fair that the taxi industry should ask for it.

The Minister of State referred to spaces and I am pleased that he has decided to row back on the demerits. The original proposal would have caused major problems because of the lack of spaces in all the major cities. We know there are problems on O'Connell Street. The taxi rank there will go and there will be more chaos wherever it goes. It would have been a disaster to penalise someone for being in a queue. That has caused problems for people.

I expect to table several amendments. I appeal to the Minister of State in respect of several issues. One issue I wish to raise relates to former political prisoners. There are many people and families involved - I do not believe the Minister of State fully understands the number involved - who are worried sick because of how this could impact on them. I believe that needs to be addressed.

The industry needs to be regulated. Many good ideas and good submissions have been put forward by the review group. I have problems with many of them but a great amount of work has been done and the work of the group represented a big step forward. We should not put people out of the industry by placing huge costs on them and extra burdens that are not necessary.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Peter Mathews)

I call Deputy Finian McGrath. I understand you are sharing time with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, with 15 minutes each.

Deputy Finian McGrath

Officially, we have 15 minutes each but we will see how I get on. I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak to this new legislation, the Taxi Regulation Bill. This is an important Bill. The priority of the industry must be to ensure the safety and protection of the drivers and their customers. The Bill gives us a great opportunity to examine the regulation and the urgent need to always be on our guard. Having considered the details of the legislation it is clear the Bill will reform the regulation of the taxi industry. The Bill repeals the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 and some other taxi-specific legislation and restates and updates the provisions. There are several changes to the regulatory framework proposed in the Bill. It makes changes to the enforcement of taxi regulations and includes a new penalty points system for breaching taxi licensing conditions, makes reference to use of CCTV and adds restrictions on who can apply for a taxi licence based on criminal and driving offences committed. This is essentially what the legislation is about.

I welcome the fact that we are dealing with this legislation. I strongly welcome the legislation and the debate and I am largely satisfied with most of the provisions set out in the Bill. I have listened to all sides of the debate in recent years and I believe it is about time that we face up to the reality. I welcome the fact that the Bill is back in this Chamber for debate. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, who met as many stakeholders from the industry as possible. Few previous Ministers have put as much effort into the brief as the current Minister of State. I accept and welcome that because that is the way one should deal with legislation. Although I am an Independent Opposition Deputy if someone does something sensible or right I will always say as much and go on the record. That does not mean I will go easy on the other issues.

The current taxi regulation legislation has had to be rewritten because the industry was left to stagnate to such an extent that it became a public safety issue. I wish to concentrate on this issue and I intend to raise other serious issues gleaned from my experience of dealing with the public and from talking to taxi drivers. The impetus for change in the industry came from the taxi driver protests and excellent investigative journalism from people such as Paul Maguire and the "Prime Time" team in RTE.

The reason behind the current chaos in the taxi industry relates to its being exposed and used as a test tube for free market economic theories. The taxi industry now serves as a perfect example of how disastrous those failed economic theories actually are, not only for the taxi industry but for the wider economy and for our society. There is a lesson to be learnt in that regard as well.

Virtually any analysis of the taxi industry proves how corrosive is the free market theory. More than 13,100 vehicle licence holders now depend on social welfare to supplement their incomes. More important, from a consumer point of view the effects of these theories have proven to be even worse. There are people working in the industry who, because of the current economic climate, are going to community welfare officers seeking financial help for their families. That is a reality not mentioned in the broader debate.

Taxi journeys and times are now taking longer because of bizarre taxi traffic jams, while the meter keeps ticking. The most recent survey of taxi waiting times suggests that 50% of customers must wait, on average, up to 30 minutes for a taxi.

The most badly affected taxi customers are those unfortunate enough to be confined to a wheelchair. The number of specifically adapted wheelchair-accessible taxis is collapsing. There are currently only approximately 950 of these taxes to cover the entire country. These vehicles are the most expensive to purchase, maintain and keep on the road. Once again the most vulnerable suffer most because of this fact.

I wish to focus on one issue in particular. In the past five years there have been 24 deaths, 58 serious collisions and 1,008 minor collisions involving taxis. These figures do not include insurance industry statistics or incidents where the Garda was not notified. There have been several surveys from throughout the world into rogue collisions involving taxis. Most surveys highlight that weekends and night-time are the peak times for collisions involving taxis. The sole exception to these surveys was a study by the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading into the London taxi industry. The survey proved that over an 11 year period the number of collisions involving the famous London black cabs varied little. The point is these cabs in London are safer because of proper supervision, regulation and rules. The State has a statutory and legal obligation to oversee the development of a professional, safe, efficient and consumer-friendly service by small public service vehicle drivers. The free market test has failed in the past. The Minister of State should ensure that the Bill fulfils the State's legal and statutory obligations to its citizens. I raise this issue because many taxi drivers are concerned about it.

One of the main features of the Bill is the strengthening of the regime that excludes persons who are convicted of certain offences from being taxi drivers either indefinitely or for a specific period. Deputy Dessie Ellis has a point in this regard. We have an internationally signed agreement, the Good Friday Agreement. If people directly affected by the restrictions are prevented from going into employment in the industry then it is important that we deal with the issue. I look forward to the response of the Minister of State in this regard. It is strange because most of the violence occurred in the North but the people there are prepared to work together, do their best to bring a sense of forgiveness, move on with their lives and allow people who are involved on both sides to get involved in the industry, provided they give a complete guarantee that customer safety will be a priority. Therefore, there is no reason why we in the Twenty-six Counties should not accept that reality. We are in an evolving situation in this State and as part of that people need to accept responsibility. However, the State must accept responsibility and be inclusive and broad. If there are people who have been involved in issues in the past and if they make a determined effort to change then we must recognise that and move on.

We also have a new demerit or penalty points system for breaches of taxi regulation and I welcome that. The National Transport Authority can authorise use of cameras and various apparatus for the enforcement of taxi regulations. These are issues as well.

I welcome section 12(1), which states, "The licensing authority may, at any time, revoke a licence if it is satisfied that the holder of the licence is no longer a suitable person to hold a licence." With regard to this section and the broader issue, I challenge the Members of the House, including Senator Sean Barrett, when it comes to economic theory that has been tested and failed. I refer in particular to the regulation and safety issues and so-called amendments that do not take into consideration the exhausted taxi driver, the double jobbers who drive a taxi after working all day, sometimes for eight hours, and the issue of the effects of this on driver and customer safety.

The Minister of State and the NTA must move on this issue. My job as an Independent Deputy is to highlight this matter and put public safety first. That is the bottom line and I will never deviate from this. Drivers on low income will also have to cut back on maintenance. The reality is that 8% of those claiming social welfare benefits are taxi drivers because of market saturation, another issue of public safety. We must keep an eye on the issue, which was glossed over by a number of Senators. I have major concerns about taxi drivers who are working for seven or eight hours after a day's work driving a bus or a lorry. Many taxi drivers have expressed their concern to me about that.

When we look at the current economic climate, it is unlikely there will be increased resources in the near future and any expansion in the taxi regulation service must be met from existing resources. The Exchequer funded part of the administration budget for the NTA was approximately €4.4 million in 2012 but the taxi regulation system currently costs less to administer than it earns in licensing fees. Licensing income amounted to €5.9 million while administration expenses were approximately €3.9 million, not including pay and accommodation costs. In addition, when the commission was merged with the NTA, it brought €20 million in net assets with it. The NTA annual budget suggests the merger and related administration changes led to annual savings of €1 million. This suggests some leeway for additional spending on taxi regulation. This would, however, be at the expense of spending on other NTA activities. We will have problems ensuring the proper policing of the legislation and the industry in the current economic climate.

Overall, I welcome the broader debate. I ask the Minister of State to look at the health and safety issues and to listen to the full-time, honest, caring taxi drivers on the ground who want to make a living, provide a service and ensure their customers travel in a safe vehicle. I also ask the Minister of State to consider the issue arising from the Good Friday Agreement and any possible scope for movement when amendments are tabled.

The core of the debate is the emphasis on regulation. Some people are saying in this morning's media that we must follow the John Bruton path of going back to light regulation. Have we still not learned the lessons of life, that there cannot be a situation where those responsible for spending public money and for public safety are not regulated? If we have not learned that lesson in recent years, we must wake up.

I commend the Minister of State on the work he did in talking to the stakeholders in the taxi industry and getting them directly involved in the legislation.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I welcome the chance to speak on the Taxi Regulation Bill. The starting point in discussing the Bill is to say the situation in the taxi industry is a very powerful example of the utter bankruptcy of the free market deregulation ideology which Mary Harney, Bobby Molloy and their Fianna Fáil counterparts were responsible for applying with such dire consequences. It is worth noting in terms of certain larger economic questions just how disastrous it was. The whole principle behind certain free market thinking is that it is an efficient way to allocate resources and match supply and demand. There could be no more powerful example of how that is rubbish than what has happened to the taxi industry.

Of course, when deregulation was introduced, there was a shortage of taxis, no one disputes that. There were 2,000 taxis in Dublin at the time of deregulation and I well remember as a teenager wandering for hours around the city trying to find a taxi to get to Dún Laoghaire and often having to walk home. There is no disputing, even by taxi drivers, that there was a real problem that had to be addressed but my God, did we go from one extreme to the other in double quick time. We went from 2,000 taxis in Dublin to the current figure of 13,000 taxis. There are now more taxis in Dublin than there are in New York. That is astonishing. We only have to wander down O'Connell Street or Dame Street at the weekend now to see a sea of taxis sitting in ranks for hours on end with frustrated and desperate drivers wondering what the point is and if they will be able to pay their bills and put food on the table. It is an unbelievable failure of policy in the first place by the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil and, subsequently, a dire failure of regulation of the industry.

In the first instance, it has made life extraordinarily difficult for full-time taxi drivers to make a living. As other speakers have mentioned, it raises serious questions about health and safety for users of taxis, such is the free-for-all that has ensued since deregulation of the taxi industry, with widespread evidence of people working in the industry who are completely non-compliant with insurance regulations and so on and drivers double jobbing, working full-time jobs then driving a taxi at night, which is putting the safety of passengers at serious risk.

The Minister of State mentioned the suitability of people working as taxi drivers and this is a major focus of the legislation. It is right and proper that there should be vetting, so that is another area although people have rightly pointed to complexities that must be addressed.

I do not want to over-exaggerate the crisis facing taxi drivers but it is a damning indictment of what has happened to the taxi industry that deregulation combined with the economic crisis saw a terrifying peak in suicides among taxi drivers, with drivers so desperate at their plight that 33 of them have taken their own lives in a two-year period. We can add to that figure many deaths from heart attacks. It is a fact that those who drive for a living, whether they drive buses or taxis, are one of the groups most likely to die of heart attacks. There is a stereotype of high powered executives in stressful jobs dying of heart attacks.

In fact, professional drivers of taxis or buses are one of the groups most vulnerable to that health threat because of the nature of and stress involved in their job. Those have been the fairly awful consequences of deregulation and the subsequent impact of the economic crisis. In that regard, I think everybody breathes a sigh of relief that the Government is bringing forward this legislation and has made attempts to engage with the different stakeholders in the taxi sector to address the issues.

However, the taxi drivers to whom I have spoken, primarily the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, NPHTA, and Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann, have expressed considerable concerns. We should take them seriously. I note the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, is smiling. Obviously, he has been engaged more in the process than I have.

Deputy Alan Kelly

It is only that I have met them all.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I am sure the Minister of State has. I am not disputing that. I have also been quite involved in this issue over the years. I marched in the protest against deregulation, not because I did not recognise the need for more taxis but because the taxi drivers who marched against deregulation warned what would happen, and they were correct. Subsequently, I have joined many campaigns, protests and demonstrations by groups such as Taxi Drivers for Change, which has morphed into another group. For the majority of my engagement with those taxi drivers groups over the years, I have found them to be sane and sensible people making reasonable points, most if not all of which have been vindicated, about the anarchy that ensued from deregulation and the need for proper regulation and enforcement.

I welcome that we have finally reached this point but, as I stated, there are a number of concerns, and I hope the Minister will engage with those concerns over the course of the passage of this legislation through the House. The first concern raised was about the consultation process, and I would be interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say in response. There may be competing claims about which is the biggest group - there are an array of groups representing taxi drivers - but I have known for quite a few years those members of the NPHTA to whom I spoke. They were involved with Taxi Drivers for Change. I believe their account to be reasonably credible as to what the NPHTA represents. They state they are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, representative organisations of taxi drivers. Representing in the region of 6,000 taxi drivers certainly makes them one of the biggest. While they were initially on the review group, they were removed from that group because they were unhappy, I presume, with certain proposals, or they were not accepting of certain consensus positions. Am I correct in stating that Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann was not on the group?

Deputy Alan Kelly

Where one group begins and another ends sometimes can be open to question.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I accept that it is difficult. What they informed me is that, subsequently, a taxi forum has been set up which brings all of these groups together.

Deputy Alan Kelly

I have met all of these groups several times and I have taken written submissions from them. In fairness, they have put some good points to us.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I want to signal this and follow the debate and the discussion. I will not pre-empt the matter, but persons who I believe have credibility state there was a problem. Probably for historical reasons as well as historical failures, there is a significant lack of confidence in the authorities and the regulatory regime. The Minister of State must go out of his way to be inclusive, in terms of all of these groups and in trying to take on their concerns.

In that regard, one immediate issue which does not relate directly to the legislation are the proposals resulting from the new construction works on the Luas in St. Stephen's Green, O'Connell Street and Foster Place. The drivers have told me that, if there are unilateral moves to remove ranks from these areas related to the Luas works, there will be murder and the Government had better get its act together and engage with the taxi drivers on this or it will have a crisis on its hands. The taxi drivers understand the works must be done but they want serious consultation about how they will be accommodated.

This issue of ranks is a big problem, both in the city and in suburban areas. I encountered the problem in Dún Laoghaire and elsewhere, and it is a serious problem. The lack of rank space is leading to taxi drivers getting penalty points because they are not on rank space, rather they are queuing to get onto a rank. For this they are getting penalty points, and if they get eight penalty points, they are disqualified, even though none of it is the taxi driver's fault. These are serious issues that need to be addressed and the starting point for addressing them is real consultation with all the groups in an inclusive process where the taxi drivers have genuine confidence that their views are being listened to.

The key matter is proper and effective regulation to deal with rogue drivers, non-compliant drivers, unsafe drivers and so on. On one of the important proposals, the NPHTA stated that it is vital that plate, car and insurance are all in the one name, and this will be at the centre of having an effective regulatory regime. The association states that if one does not have that, a driver may have a licence and may be able to show his or her insurance, but the insurance is not insurance for the car in question because one cannot insure somebody else's car. It needs to be one package and that the driver is registered to that car. There should be one package of plate, car and insurance all in one name. This would resolve many of the problems of rogue drivers.

The association also states that the branding issue is problematic because already one can go to five or six locations in Dublin to get forged versions of the green branding that has been put on the side of taxis. It is not effective. The association has proposed alternatives. There may need to be debate and discussion about how this could be done and made more workable. I think it was proposing particularly items that would be put on the roof-signs which would identify taxis properly. There needs to be engagement on this issue because if those green brands are being forged, one can see fairly quickly how ineffective it will be.

The association also states the smartphone application is a very good idea and is hopeful about it. The effectiveness of this application, which allows NTA officials or gardaí to check whether a driver is properly registered, licensed, insured and so on, has been diluted by giving a 24-hour breathing space in which the information about a driver's compliance can come up on it. In other words, instead of being able to check the application and find out there and then whether there is information on it about proper registration and compliance, the position is that the information cannot come up but one is told it must be put up within 24 hours, which means those who are not insured and registered to drive a particular car can get it done retrospectively, allowing abuse to continue. The association states that the dilution by allowing a 24-hour breathing space must be removed.

The other big issue is the issue of transferability and inheritance rights. Here the drivers state that, as has been mentioned, the requirement that the car be not less than three years old will mean that transferability is not possible between family members or persons working in a small family business.

There should be inheritance rights for the entire package without a three-year restriction, which could mean that family members, on the death of somebody working a taxi, would not be able to inherit a small family business.

With regard to double-jobbing, I underline the point that it is not just about people driving but anybody who works. There are EU work time directives coming into play regarding hours which are safe to work. If a person is working for eight hours in any job, such as teaching, working in a council, driving a bus or working in a factory before going out to drive at night, it would be a real problem. A person who works too long is not safe as a driver, and the issue must be addressed urgently. I am not underestimating the difficulty of addressing what is a complex issue but it should be tackled. There must be a level playing field. People may have part-time jobs when on low income, and in such cases it would be legitimate for them to work in a taxi but there must be health and safety regulations which should be stringently adhered to.

There is also the enforcement issue, as it is not good enough just to have regulations. For example, over two hours a checkpoint was put on Dame Street to check compliance rates by taxi drivers and in that period 19 drivers were found to be non-compliant with regulations. That suggests widespread non-compliance in the industry, which is driving full-time taxi drivers demented. They want assurance that these issues will be addressed in legislation to allow for a level playing field and proper regulation and enforcement in the industry so that everybody has a chance to make a living and undo the damage that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats did to the industry.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Peter Mathews)

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick is sharing time with Deputy Brian Walsh.

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

This Taxi Regulation Bill is the most comprehensive piece of legislation for the taxi sector in the history of the State. It replaces the previous 2003 Act, which was produced in a hurry following a court case and ignored by Fianna Fáil for almost ten years. Until now, consumers could not distinguish between taxi drivers adhering to the professional standards and those who did not do so. Drivers who did their business honestly have had to compete with those who cut corners with little chance of being caught by enforcement officers. Such practices have had to be tackled through this Bill.

A report was published with 46 separate actions designed to improve the taxi sector and many of these are coming to fruition through this Bill. The report advocates the embracing of new technology to allow for better enforcement of regulations to make the consumer more confident in the taxi sector. It gives a much stronger legislative basis to deliver real and lasting reform, and it would remove certain categories of criminals from the taxi sector. When the Garda refused to grant a taxi licence, people were able to win an appeal because of flaws in the old legislation. In future, those guilty of certain road traffic offences will lose their taxi licence. The Bill will also allow for convictions in foreign jurisdictions to be taken into account when the courts and the Garda make decisions about the granting of licences.

The Bill will give much greater power of enforcement of taxi regulations to the Garda. There have been just eight enforcement officers trying to police the entire taxi sector but this Bill will allow the National Transport Authority to increase the number of enforcement officers. A demerit system will be created as a type of penalty points system for taxi drivers, so those who repeatedly breach regulations will be suspended for three months. If a driver deliberately takes a customer the wrong way for a longer journey and ends up overcharging the customer, there will be dramatic consequence. There will also be a reforming approach to taxi regulations. Consumers will be able to verify if their drivers are licensed before entering the car. Additionally, there is live data exchange between the National Transport Authority, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection, which will help to tackle fraud.

The Bill will bring an end to transferability of licences when they are traded without control on the open market. An exemption will be put in place to allow people to transfer licences in the event of death to a nominated party. The proposal will bring dramatic improvements in transparency to the rental sector, as many driver representative groups have called for a clean-up of the area.

The Bill will also allow a review of standards for wheelchair accessible vehicles in order to make them more affordable and increase their reliability. The Garda Síochana issues small public service vehicle, SPSV, driver licences and in order to qualify, a person must hold an Irish driving licence or a licence from another EU, EEA or other recognised state. The applicant must produce a current tax clearance certificate and pass the SPSV entry test to obtain the SPSV skills development certificate. This test consists of two parts, with the area knowledge test to verify that a driver has a good knowledge of the county in which he or she intends to operate and an industrial knowledge test to verify that a person understands taxi industry and SPSV regulations. The test is administered by the National Transport Authority and An Garda Síochána must certify that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold an SPSV driving licence.

Deputy Brian Walsh

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and at the outset I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, for the energy and commitment he has invested in this very important industry since assuming office just two short years ago. A representative of mine, former Deputy Bobby Molloy, introduced deregulation to the industry many years ago.

Deputy John Browne

A visionary.

Deputy Brian Walsh

He was in many respects. That brought many positives, as we can recall the times we had to queue for many hours for taxis, particularly at weekends. On many occasions we had to walk.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

One thinks of Eyre Square.

Deputy Brian Walsh

The Minister of State knows that part of the world well. Deregulation also brought many problems, and this Bill is comprehensively dealing with some of the challenges and problems arising from the liberal deregulation of the industry. It is important to note that the majority of operators in the taxi industry are professional and conscientious individuals operating a professional service, although a small number may abuse the trust placed in them by the travelling public. It is important that legislation is introduced to deal with that small minority.

This Bill follows a commitment in the programme for Government regarding regulation of the taxi industry, bringing in sight an end to a long period of uncertainty for the industry. It replaces the inept 2003 Act and addresses legislative deficiencies ignored for almost ten years. The Bill addresses many of the errors that the previous Administration made in the area and brings to an end the lackadaisical approach to regulation and enforcement. The changes proposed by this Bill have been broadly welcomed by the majority of stakeholders, notwithstanding a number of minor concerns which I hope can be addressed during the course of the progression of this Bill through the House. It will not be welcomed by rogue operators in the industry who have been cutting corners and flouting the law in the knowledge that there was very little chance of them being caught by enforcement officers. It is against this background that professional and law-abiding taxi drivers have had to work and compete against those who refuse to comply with rules. This practice had to be tackled and I commend the Minister for seizing the opportunity to do so in the form of this legislation.

The Bill introduces a strengthened regime to exclude persons convicted of certain offences from operating as taxi drivers either indefinitely or for a specified period. It also proposes to establish a demerit or penalty points system for breaches of new regulations. Importantly, it confers additional regulatory powers for the National Transport Authority, including provisions regarding the licensing of small public service vehicle drivers. It permits the authority to enter service agreements for the purpose of enforcement and for gardaí to issue fixed charge notices for a larger number of offences and breaches of taxi regulations.

This Bill will ensure a departure from and no return to the inadequate laissez-faire approach to taxi regulation which has been the scourge of the industry for the past ten years. It will foster a greater sense of confidence among consumers in the professionalism and rectitude of those operating in the sector. It places safety, compliance and professionalism to the fore and will provide reassurance for those who abide by the rules and drive from the industry those who do not.

The Bill's provisions are in addition to a number of new requirements introduced by way of regulation under existing legislation since the beginning of 2013. These have introduced changes to the vehicle licensing processes, fixed charge penalties and new taxi branding. They form part of an overhaul of the defective regime inherited by the Government informed by the recommendations of the taxi review group established by the Minister at the end of 2011.

The enforcement of pre-existing regulations had previously been hampered by the fact that while the National Transport Authority could appoint individuals for enforcement purposes, it could not engage the services of a firm. This is poised to change under the proposed legislation and will allow the body to delegate some of its functions to third parties or other corporate entities. This will considerably expand the capabilities of the organisation to enforce rules effectively and ensure compliance throughout the taxi industry.

As well as encouraging an improvement in safety and standards, the Bill should see an economic benefit accrue to the majority of compliant taxi drivers, as they will no longer be forced to compete against rogue operators who have been allowed to continue unchecked for far too long. I commend the Minister of State and the work he has done in the two short years he has been in office. He has done more than any other Minister of State to address these difficulties and challenges faced by the industry, and I commend him on this and on bringing the Bill before the House.

Deputy John Browne

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Taxi Regulation Bill. Fianna Fáil supports the majority of the provisions of the Bill but we will introduce amendments on Committee Stage in areas about which we have concerns. The Taxi Regulation Bill is certainly welcome. The most recent Act dates from 2003 and ten years on, this is a useful opportunity to examine what is needed to meet the needs of the taxi industry in modern Ireland. The taxi industry has changed dramatically over the past ten years and we have had deregulation. Most taxis operate in large urban centres throughout the country, but recently there has been an increase in taxi services provided in smaller towns, including in towns in my constituency such as Wexford town. A very valuable service is provided for the local communities.

Deregulation was a catch-22 situation. The public had been shouting for deregulation and more taxis to be made available so people could get a taxi by clicking their fingers, but the taxi industry has suffered because we probably have too many taxis. The Indecon report stated we have an overcapacity of taxis of approximately 20%. According to the Taxi Alliance of Ireland, we have 5,000 illegal taxis in the country, and the Minister of State must tackle this. It is not good enough to have people operating outside of the taxi laws. It seems to be a major problem for genuine and legitimate taxi operators.

I welcome the strengthening of the commitment to impose a regime which excludes persons convicted of certain categories of offences from being taxi drivers. It is very important that people travelling in a taxi have the confidence that whoever is driving it is of the highest calibre and that they are not subject to any fear whatsoever. Most of my taxi use is in Dublin, and the majority of taxi drivers are top quality. They are genuine, friendly and very helpful. However we also have rogue taxi operators who want to charge the last penny. In some instances they do not have a clue where they are going and in other cases they take a person on the longest route to the airport or to wherever one is travelling and charge one accordingly.

Genuine taxi drivers in Dublin and other large cities are part and parcel of what we are. Some people would say the best people to describe how one is doing politically are taxi drivers because they usually know how one's party or government is doing at any particular time. I remember travelling in a taxi prior to the last general election and the driver was able to tell me the game was up for Fianna Fáil. I am sure it is the same for every other politician who travels in a taxi. The drivers can tell one how people feel. I advise the Minister of State to travel in a taxi-----

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I do.

Deputy John Browne

-----because he will find out how the Government is operating and how the public feel.

It is important to have strong legislation to deal with the rights of the public, because a good and available taxi service is important. Many taxi drivers find it difficult to make ends meet because of the saturation of supply. I do not know how the Minister of State can deal with this because, while the Indecon report stated there is saturation of supply, it did not recommend a cap on the number of taxis available in future. Perhaps we can tease this out on Committee Stage. Perhaps a cap should be introduced to protect the income of taxi drivers.

An area the Minister of State needs to examine is that of taxi ranks. In Dublin there is a lot of aggression from some of the taxi drivers on the rank, and it is not necessarily of their own making. Taxi drivers seem to jump the queue or do not get into order. In places such as Brussels and London, the taxi ranks at the airports have taxi marshals directing people to the next taxi. Perhaps the larger taxi ranks in Dublin should have a taxi marshal system so these flare-ups and rows do not occur. They look bad, particularly when people from abroad see this carry-on. I do not know how it would be funded, but it is an issue which should be examined. Perhaps it could be funded through taxi drivers themselves or another method. We need to consider this on Committee Stage.

The issue of ten year old cars has been raised with me, in rural areas as well as urban areas. The Minister of State wants to take cars aged over nine years or older off the road. Some nine year old cars and older, such as Mercedes and Jaguars, are in top-class condition and many of them are far better than some of the smaller cars which are only three or four years old. This needs to be examined, and I ask the Minister of State to seriously consider deleting this proposal from the legislation. Taxi drivers are working longer hours than ever to make a living, and incomes have dropped across the board because of the increased number of taxis. We should consider an immediate cap on issuing new taxi licences.

This is the right decision for the industry and, in particular, for taxi drivers in Dublin where there is an over-supply of taxis at present. We need a taxi service that is affordable, accessible and provides good quality for the public. There has been a significant increase in the number of taxis since deregulation in 2000 and the numbers are currently over-subscribed.

I have a bugbear about taxi services for people with disabilities. Even though some taxis are entitled to carry such people and are suitably adapted to do so, some taxi drivers do not want to carry people in wheelchairs or whose mobility is otherwise impaired. I have a daughter who suffers from a disability and is wheelchair-bound. On a number of occasions she and her friends have been refused fares by taxis and hackneys for some unknown reason, even though they have the capacity to carry people with disabilities. Maybe it is because of the hardship of putting a wheelchair in a car boot, but some taxis are not user-friendly towards people with disabilities. The Minister of State should examine that matter.

The safety of the public must be paramount in all our deliberations, which is why I welcome the Bill. People getting into a taxi must feel they are safe, and this applies especially to women and the elderly of both sexes. I do not wish to be sexist but we have read newspaper reports about women being attacked in taxis. The Bill before us should clean up this aspect and ensure they are not subject to any undesirable elements from the taxi industry.

Taxi companies have told me that when they want to take on extra staff, they find it very difficult to obtain Garda vetting clearance. I have also come across this problem when nursing homes want to employ staff. They may apply for Garda clearance at the vetting office in Tipperary, but it can take a long time before such clearance is forthcoming. Employers want to take on staff, so this system should be speeded up. I have raised the matter in parliamentary questions to the Minister for Justice and Equality. Perhaps it is time to have the vetting process done in local Garda stations. Most of the time, local gardaí will know the exact status of the person who is applying for clearance. However, when people apply to Tipperary, the application must be referred to the person's local Garda station. Once the local Garda authorities have cleared the person, or refused to grant clearance, the application must be returned to Tipperary again before the applicant is notified of the result. There is a lot of bureaucratic red tape involved which is militating against job creation. The process should be streamlined and speeded up because the current system is unacceptable.

The Bill prohibits the transfer of taxi licences but I feel the concerns of taxi drivers' representatives, as expressed in a submission to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, on this prohibition are valid. Single licence plate holders should be treated differently from those holding multiple plates. Some single licence holders operate their taxis in conjunction with their wives, sons or daughters. In the event of anything untoward happening to a single licence holder, the family would also be put out of work under the proposed measure. I doubt if the Minister of State present, Deputy Sherlock, or his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, would want that to happen. This point should be re-examined on Committee Stage because single licence plate holders should be entitled to transfer a taxi licence to their spouse or child, particularly when a family is solely dependent on that income.

I am also concerned about some aspects of the taxi trade, particularly where drivers who are trying to join a taxi rank, are set to be penalised if they are waiting adjacent to the rank. There should be some flexibility in this regard. One often sees a full taxi rank but a driver may pull up two or three places back. They will now be penalised, but that proposal needs to be examined.

In general, the Bill is welcome. It is ten years since the last taxi regulation legislation but the industry has moved on in the meantime. Taxis are now operating not only in major urban centres but also in rural areas. The Indecon report recommended having two strands of taxi regulation, one for cities and large towns, and a different one for rural areas. Rural Ireland is becoming a problem area in the sense that new drink-driving regulations have created many problems, including those associated with isolation. Like myself, the Minister of State comes from a rural area and he knows there is a tremendous amount of isolation in remote areas. Perhaps we could work with the business community, including publicans, as well as Muintir na Tíre and other community groups to see how a system could be introduced to allow people to get to the local pub, hall or community centre at weekends. In that way, they could enjoy a drink in comfort and be able to rely on some form of transport system to get them home. That debate is for another time and place, however.

I hope the Bill will be passed as quickly as possible. This side of the House will table some amendments to deal with areas of the legislation that, as I have outlined, need to be re-examined. I am sure the Minister and Minister of State will look favourably on some of the Opposition amendments. We feel they would improve the legislation. While none of us has a monopoly on wisdom as regards how legislation should be implemented, I imagine the Government will accept some of our amendments if they can improve the Bill.

I wish the legislation a speedy passage through the Dáil. When it is enacted, we will hopefully have a better taxi service, not alone in the major towns and cities but also throughout the country. As a result, the interests of the travelling public will be protected while taxi drivers can earn a decent living for themselves and their families.

Deputy Eamonn Maloney

I wish to share time with Deputy Dowds and Deputy Seán Kenny.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Terence Flanagan)

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Eamonn Maloney

I welcome the Bill's contents very much. The taxi industry has gone through various stages of turmoil and taxi drivers continue to face a great deal of problems. While I do not take a black and white attitude to deregulation, what has happened as a result of the changes by a previous Administration is proof that deregulation does not always work. It may be argued that some facets of it were good for consumers, but overall the deregulation that took place has been a disaster and is to blame for the current difficulties that exist in the taxi industry.

I fully agree with many of the substantive elements of the Bill but I wish to focus on one or two matters. The oversupply of taxis is acknowledged in the Bill, and we all acknowledge it. On the more contentious issue of part-time versus full-time taxi drivers, I am very much in favour of it being an industry where full-time taxi drivers and their welfare, safety and occupation is protected. Returning to what I said earlier, deregulation led directly to many of the shortcomings in the industry. Most taxi people will tell you the end result of the deregulation that took place in the past is an industry that is very difficult for people to invest in or make a career choice of because it is unfair and unequal. Let us be frank and truthful about it, there is some activity that borders on the illegal. One of the positive aspects of this Bill is that, for the first time, it confronts that issue, and others.

When deregulation took place I strongly held the view, and it has not changed, that the Minister's Department should cease issuing taxi licences for the next 12 months so that this Bill, which is substantially very good, can be bedded down. It would be good for the industry and for those who have decided on a full-time occupation as a taxi driver. The continuation of the issuing of taxi licences is careless. It is misleading other people of various occupations, whether they have a job or are unemployed. There is no constitutional impediment on the Department to decide not to issue any taxi licences for 12 months. It is the right thing to do until we get this industry in its present form properly regulated.

Deputy Seán Kenny

I welcome the introduction of the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012, which deals with the requirement to strengthen the enforcement of the taxi regulations and, in order to ensure a robust legislative framework for these new enforcement provisions, to replace the Taxi Regulation Act 2003. That Act came from an era in which there was a laissez-faire approach to taxi regulation, an era that was brought about by former Minister Bobby Molloy and the neo-liberal approach of the Progressive Democrats. It has made life very unfair for honest taxi drivers trying to make a decent living and it is now being changed.

This Bill, along with other measures, will make 2013 a defining year for the taxi sector, which has finally been placed at the top of the political agenda. The Bill is part of a package of measures designed to improve the taxi sector for consumers and drivers alike. It is to that effect that a series of radical changes will take place in the sector. There will be an online register of drivers so the State knows what driver is in each car, with verification of this by the customer. The rental sector will be reformed and we will have new vehicle standards and increased enforcement. The programme for Government sets out a commitment to review and update the regulation of taxis to ensure taxi services are recognised as a key component of the public transport system and to provide a forum for discussion between the regulatory authorities and taxi providers. This Bill is a key step in honouring that commitment by the Government.

The genesis of the Bill lies in the recommendations of the taxi regulation review report from 2011, which was chaired by the Minister of State for Public Transport, Deputy Alan Kelly, and endorsed by the Government in January 2012. The aim of the review was to allow consumers to have confidence in the taxi system while also ensuring that legitimate and competent operators and drivers can be rewarded fairly by operating under a regulatory framework that is adequately enforced.

The review group brought together representatives of all of the key stakeholders, including dispatch operators, taxi drivers, consumer representative groups, relevant Departments and regulatory and enforcement agencies. It carried out a wide-ranging review of the sector which included a public consultation process involving an opportunity for written submissions on the review and for oral representations from key stakeholder groups. A parallel public consultation was carried out by the National Transport Authority on vehicle standards.

I am happy that the measures set out in the Bill strike a balance between consumer interests and those of the operators in the industry, and address the need for regulatory bodies to be able to undertake proportionate and effective oversight. I am confident that the new enforcement provisions of the Bill will be broadly welcomed by the industry and consumers alike. The Bill represents the most comprehensive review of taxi regulation ever carried out in this State and is one that I am pleased to support. I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, who has done a great deal of work relating to the taxi industry and he is to be commended for that work.

The new legislation will provide for a much more sophisticated enforcement toolkit. The enforcement regime to be adopted in future will be based on a graduated approach to tackling non-compliance, depending on the gravity of the criminal offence or compliance failure. It will also be designed to speed up the prosecution of offenders and the administration of justice. The Bill ensures that enforcement and compliance start at the point of entry to the industry. Under the Bill, the mandatory disqualification of drivers from holding a small public service vehicles, SPSV, licence will ensure that those with convictions or indictment for the most serious violent crimes will be excluded from the industry. That is to be welcomed.

A key recommendation arising from the taxi regulation review was the commencement of the legislative provisions for mandatory disqualification. The underlying policy principles for the mandatory disqualification provisions are first, to ensure the welfare and the safety of passengers of taxis - small public service vehicles - and transport services, particularly in situations where a passenger is travelling alone in a taxi. The second policy principle is the proportionate application of the mandatory disqualification provision, to avoid any risk of legal challenge on the basis of the constitutional right to earn a living, with regard to excluding persons from operating in the taxi industry.

The proportionality issue is addressed in the Bill through specifying the most serious of offences in the Schedule, for which conviction on indictment constitutes a demonstration, through their previous criminal actions, of the propensity of the person to harm another person. That allows for a tiered system of disqualification. This is based on consideration of the seriousness of the offences. The most serious offences are shown in Part 1 of the Schedule, namely, those which result in disqualification for life from the date of conviction. In Part 2 of the Schedule, there is a tiered system of disqualification periods in the Bill based on the severity of the length of the sentence imposed upon conviction, to which additional years of disqualification are applied. In less grave cases where only a fine or a suspended prison sentence is imposed, there is a 12-month disqualification period.

I welcome the appeal provision under the mandatory disqualification provision which is open to all, allowing the courts to assess, on a case-by-case basis, the suitability of individuals to hold a taxi licence. In order to be proportionate, the mandatory disqualification provision is applied retrospectively. A 12-month stay is provided for with regard to licence holders who have convictions prior to the enactment of the Bill to allow those persons to appeal their disqualification to the courts. In the case of these licence holders, if the appeal is not made within the 12-month period, or if such an appeal fails, the person is disqualified and their licence stands revoked.

The Bill makes it an obligation for licence holders and applicants to notify the licensing authority of their conviction of any offence that falls under the mandatory disqualification provision. A licence applicant must supply this notification at the time of application. In the case of a licence holder the notification must be supplied no later than one month from the date of conviction, or in the case of convictions prior to enactment, within one month of the enactment of the Bill.

I believe the provision for mandatory disqualification in the Bill will prove to be a vast improvement in strengthening the existing vetting system carried out by An Garda Síochána in its administration of the SPSV driver licensing system.

For licence holders, the new demerit scheme featured in the Bill will deal with recurrent breaches of the taxi regulations. This scheme is based on the penalty points system for driving licences but there will be no overlap between the operation of the two systems. Under the SPSV demerit scheme, demerit offences, which constitute breaches of the taxi regulations, are specified. The period of endorsement of demerits on an SPSV licence is three years. Disqualification by reason of demerits is automatic upon obtaining a total number of demerits equal to or exceeding eight demerits, and the disqualification is for a period of three months. The appropriate date for commencement of a period of disqualification arising under the scheme will be 28 days after notice is given for disqualification, or some further period to be determined in the courts in the case of an appeal against a conviction for a demerit offence that is relevant to the disqualification.

The Bill provides for fixed payment offences for contravention of the regulations on a range of regulatory matters that can be enforced by the NTA enforcement officers and, in the case of specified offences, also by members of An Garda Síochána. The level of fee payable for a fixed payment offence will be established by regulations made by the NTA. In addition, the fixed payment offences are also demerit offences under Part 5 and therefore, upon a fixed payment or conviction for a fixed payment offence, the specified number of demerits will be endorsed on an SPSV licence.

Conduct and compliance at taxi ranks are also dealt with in the Bill, which provides for specific offences relating to a breach of the parameters for use of taxi stands that are specified in by-laws made by the local authorities. For example, there is the offence of standing with a taxi on a part of a public road adjoining a taxi stand when the taxi rank is full. Under section 40, closed circuit television at taxi ranks will allow the NTA to use cameras, CCTV or other apparatus to build its evidence base with regard to breaches of the regulations and offences involving SPSVs at taxi stands.

The Taxi Regulation Bill is a major improvement on the existing legislative framework. It is a more precise statement of the powers of the regulator, the principles and process for licensing and assessment and the operational standards required by licence holders. This will give clarity to potential new market entrants and to licence holders in the industry, as well as to taxi passengers in regard to the quality and standard of service they should expect. The Bill sets out clearly the consequences for applicants and licence holders who fail to meet suitability standards, or for contravention of the regulations. The provisions of the Bill facilitate the development of a greater physical enforcement presence and capability to effectively enforce the taxi regulations. It will improve the speed of dealing with regulatory breaches through fixed payment offences and the new demerit scheme even before these issues reach the courts. The new enforcement measures and refinement of the regulatory framework contained in the provisions of the Bill are essential to support the future regulatory regime where only suitable and compliant drivers and operators can benefit within the SPSV industry, and in order that passengers can be confident that SPSV services are of a high quality and are safe for travel.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Terence Flanagan)

The next group of speakers includes Deputies Martin Ferris, Sean Crowe and Sandra McLellan. Deputy Ferris is sharing his time and five minutes are allowed for each speaker.

Deputy Martin Ferris

Last night we heard much profession of support and respect for the Good Friday Agreement. We heard how important it was and heard this Government is committed to ensuring its full implementation. That commitment is welcome but it must be backed up with action. This State is a co-signer and co-guarantor of the Agreement. It is amazing to think that this is the case and yet Ministers, in full knowledge of that reality and reminded repeatedly of it by people like Deputies Dessie Ellis, Aengus Ó Snodaigh and myself, can put forward a Bill such as this, which is completely against the spirit of the Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement, signed by the Government of this State in 1998, tied this House to recognising what it stated was: "the importance of measures to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners into the community by providing support both prior to and after release, including assistance directed towards availing of employment opportunities, re-training and-or reskilling, and further education". The Agreement recognises the political context of the conflict that took place in Ireland from the 1960s until its signing, and recognises that actions carried out by IRA volunteers were politically motivated. That means that IRA prisoners were political prisoners and, following the ceasefire, that they were released from prison as part of a process of peace building. This outcome has been a huge success for society, North and South. We all agreed as much last night in our debate on the Sinn Féin motion.

The North and the South are now more inclusive societies. Although it is still a serious problem, sectarianism is on the back foot. The Orange state's oppression of the Nationalist people of the North is over. Problems persist and we work to deal with them but the advancements have been so big and so fast that young people can barely comprehend the past they see on television screens and read about in their books.

Unfortunately, advancement for many former political prisoners, North and South, has not been so dramatic. Although they are free from prison, in too many cases they struggle with unemployment and disadvantage. In spite of the conditions of the Good Friday Agreement, the Hillsborough Agreement and the St. Andrew Agreement, as well as the guidelines that have been published subsequently, political prisoners continue to suffer discrimination. Obstacles continue to be erected in the way of their search for employment or business opportunities - obstacles the Good Friday Agreement challenged the Governments involved to remove.

It is my opinion that former political prisoners were ignored in the drafting of this Bill. Yet Deputy Ellis has raised this issue many times with the Minister of State, has sent letters and tabled parliamentary questions, only to be ignored. The Minister of State knows what he is doing but he does not care. He stated that Sinn Féin had submitted no amendments on this issue even though the Seanad record shows he spoke to such amendments. Is his memory selective or poor, or is he just trying to score a cheap political point to distract from the fact that he does not give a damn, either about these people or about the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement that do not suit him?

I am a former political prisoner, having served 13 years. All my life I have worked for my community and I continue to work with local people for better services and to defend their rights. I have been elected as a representative time and again over many years and was again endorsed by the people of my community and my constituency in the last election in 2011. However, in the eyes of the Minister of State I cannot be a taxi driver and he has sought to make that into law in this Bill.

The St. Andrews Agreement, which progressed the peace process and brought about the renewal of power sharing, states: "The Government will work with business, trade unions and ex-prisoner groups to produce guidance for employers which will reduce barriers to employment and enhance re-integration of former prisoners". A working group, established under the agreement to focus on issues arising for prisoners, states: "Conflict-related convictions of "politically motivated" ex-prisoners, or their membership of any organisation, should not generally be taken into account [in accessing employment, facilities, goods or services] provided that the act to which the conviction relates, or the membership, predates the Agreement". It is quite clear. The Government must uphold its side of the bargain with the prisoners who took risks for peace. It must treat them fairly and allow them to live normal lives in this new dispensation, which they have played a major role in creating.

It is 15 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. It is time that the commitment then given became part of all legislation dealing with this type of issue. Sinn Féin cannot accept the Bill as long as it discriminates against former political prisoners, in contravention of the principles set out in the Good Friday Agreement and its successors. I ask the House to support this amendment so that the Bill can pass without delay.

I was present and took part in the negotiations that relate to the prisoners' issues. Verbal commitments were given by senior civil servants and Ministers that prisoners who are part of an organisation that is on a verifiable and credible ceasefire would be treated fairly and that any obstacle standing in regard to their imprisonment for politically motivated actions would not come against them in respect of applying to work as taxi drivers, or in any form of employment.

Deputy Seán Crowe

I have just come from a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which is sending a letter to the Minister of State on the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012. All parties at the meeting expressed concerns about this matter. Is it just me or do other Members find it bizarre that the Minister of State indicated that no amendments were put forward even though he personally spoke about amendments? I do not know what world he is living in but he clearly does not have his head around this important issue and I am worried about his competence and ability to deal with it.

It cannot be denied that business is bad for taxi drivers and something needs to change. However, this Bill offers very little to address the problem. Any of us who has used taxis or spoken with taxi drivers will have heard stories about their difficulties. There was a time when one could enjoy a good living from driving a taxi but that has not been the case since the sector was deregulated. I am concerned not only for the safety of those who get into taxis but also for the future of the industry. At its peak there were 27,000 taxis on the road and in 2008 an estimated 100 million trips were taken in taxis. By 2012 that number had decreased significantly to 70 million. It is believed that 25 taxi drivers took their lives between 2008 and 2010. I am aware of a cluster of taxi drivers in my constituency who unfortunately chose that option. Their actions had a major impact on their families, their communities and their colleagues. When asked about triggers, many people point to the shape of the industry and the pressure they are under to earn money and repay mortgages. This Bill does not refer to the difficulties taxi drivers face or the supports they need.

I carried out a survey of taxi drivers at The Square in Tallaght and found many are earning less than the minimum wage and some are earning as little as half the minimum wage. They put in long hours taking people on the short journey from shopping centre to home. Many of them are elderly and do not feel confident driving taxis at night. Their only income comes from the fares they pick up from The Square during daytime hours.

The Government is taking a negative approach to taxi drivers in this Bill. They are treated as criminals or deserving of suspicion. Taxi drivers represent good value for the State and provide a good service with which people are happy. Reform is needed but they do not deserve vilification. Most drivers are honest and hard working people who suffer enough derision in the media without the Government joining in. The Minister of State claimed there are 6,000 criminals in the industry but what crimes did these individuals commit and have they served their time? Is it not wrong to brand people who transgressed in their past lives and may since have turned the corner? There is agreement that dangerous people such as sex offenders should not be allowed to drive taxis, but denying a licence to someone who committed a non-violent crime perhaps ten years ago could be, for that person, the difference between earning a livelihood and losing his or her car and home. The majority of people in this House would not like to see such an outcome. We already have laws dealing with criminal behaviour outside of the industry but gardaí are unable to enforce them because of underfunding. This work is also hampered by the huge expansion in the number of taxis after deregulation. Policing the taxi industry is a serious job that cannot be done without resources.

The vast majority of taxi drivers do not have convictions and they drive their taxis within the law. Some 377 complaints were made about taxi drivers in 2012 out of 20,000 drivers and millions of journeys. Taxi drivers are more likely to be victims than perpetrators. I live several doors away from a taxi driver whose nerves are in bits after being the victim of syringe attacks two nights in a row. Strong vetting procedures are necessary for all applications but this Bill will not root out the problems within the system. People have a right to make a living but commitments could be made to the industry to deal with oversupply by reducing the numbers of those who drive taxis to supplement other wages. The industry requires an independent appeals process and more accountability on taxi policy. Sinn Féin's submission to the review called for a biannual examination of the NTA by the Oireachtas. Bodies could also be more representative of the majority of single licence holding drivers.

I welcome the provision to allow people to list family members on their licences in case of death. Will this be allowed in the event of a family member retiring? Deputy Ellis outlined the story of a young man who could not replace his father's licence on the retirement of the latter. Would this family be helped by the Bill?

The Minister of State spoke about the right to earn a living but how does this sit with his refusal to honour commitments given under the Good Friday Agreement? There is a need for more balance in this Bill. The Minister of State needs to wake up to the debate. Amendments were proposed in the Seanad, which he appears to have forgotten. He is certainly not helping ex-prisoners and ex-combatants. There are grave concerns about the signal this Bill sends out. We already know that certain people are trying to undermine or wreck the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and we are facing into a long and difficult marching season this year. This Government is now playing its part in undermining the agreement. It is quick to blame others for not stepping up to the plate but the Minister of State also has a responsibility for the ex-prisoners.

Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and acknowledge the work done by the Minister of State and his officials in drafting it. The legislation fulfils a commitment made by the Government in this area and marks the most deep-rooted reform ever implemented in the regulation of taxis in Ireland. For too long, the taxi industry has been stuck in a stranglehold because of the rushed legislation introduced by Fianna Fáil in 2003, which had all the hallmarks of a knee-jerk reaction as opposed to a comprehensive overhaul.

The Bill sets out to serve both consumer and operators equally. It affords comfort and peace of mind to the consumer while recognising and rewarding legitimate professional taxi operators. Through a sequence of meaningful measures, it will ensure effective filtering and removal of the rogue element that has thrived in the industry for too long. Sanitising the taxi industry stands at the top of the Government's transport agenda.

This underscores our determination to create a new and progressive landscape in the taxi industry, an objective that will be achieved via the multi-tiered approach evident in the Bill.

Compliance and enforcement have been tackled head-on by extending the powers of the Garda and complementing these powers with increased collaboration with the National Transport Authority. This enhanced alliance will deliver effective enforcement at street level. The Bill addresses the rental aspect of the taxi industry and seeks to eliminate the criminal element by providing for a vigorous system of regulation. It will ensure the industry returns to viability and not only becomes sustainable but also offers attractive and worthwhile employment. The Bill demonstrates a similar dedication to providing consumer and industry assurance. Television programmes have sounded loud warnings, scary stories have frightened us and the documentation of defects attributed to vehicles has simultaneously unnerved and incensed us. The Bill seeks to restore consumer confidence and provide reassurance to taxi users through the introduction of a series of precautions. For example, it makes welcome provision for a smartphone app which will give customers the option of confirming whether a driver is licensed and operating within the new regulations. Should a customer encounter an unpleasant episode or endure questionable behaviour, he or she will have the option of accessing a full online complaints process. These reforms demonstrate the Government's resolve to flush out every discrepancy and iron out all incidents of non-compliance.

On driver and vehicle licensing, gaps are being identified and rectified as we seek to manage what has been mismanaged for too long. The introduction of a live data exchange between the National Transport Authority, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection goes a long way towards securing our objectives. PPS numbers have become central to all driver and vehicle licensing data and will assist efforts to reduce and eventually eradicate fraud.

Reform in all areas is continuing. Accessibility has been addressed through a drive to establish uniformity in the industry and meet the needs of every consumer regardless of mobility. Similarly, in respect of fleet management and rental controls, the practice of renting taxi licences only has been prohibited. Anyone renting out a licence must own the car to which the licence is attached. The Bill also addresses oversupply in the taxi industry and steps have been taken to identify the measures it will be necessary to implement in this regard.

The Government recognises the need for a regulatory approach that is specific to rural areas which do not have a taxi service. We are not prepared to allow rural isolation to fester and are dedicated to addressing this problem. For this reason, I welcome the development of a specific hackney licence for rural areas.

This is comprehensive legislation that takes a multi-pronged approach to dealing with an industry that was abandoned and left to fall into ruin. The Government recognises the good and genuine people in the industry who want to make the sector work. We are with them in driving forward a structure for the industry that we can all stand over and be proud of. While weak attempts were made to tidy it up in the past, one cannot tidy up something that is dirty without first cleaning it. The clean-up has begun.

It is common to see distinctive taxi branding in other countries and I welcome attempts to create a much more professional image for our taxi industry through branding.

While the legislation fulfils a Government commitment, the motivation behind the Bill is not to keep a promise but to satisfy a strong desire to correct something that was wrong for too long.

Deputy Joe O'Reilly

I acknowledge the great work done in this area by the Minister of State with responsibility for transport, Deputy Alan Kelly. The most satisfying aspect of his work has been his decision to engage the key stakeholders - namely, taxi drivers - throughout the consultation process and in the preparation of the Bill. It is important that the Government honour its commitment in the programme for Government to reform the taxi industry as part of its ongoing reform agenda.

I will cite a specific case that has arisen from my consultations with the industry and representations made to me, including by an elected county councillor in County Cavan who is involved in the taxi industry. I ask the Minister of State to comment at the conclusion of the debate. I refer to family-run taxi businesses in which one plate is used by a number of family members. The business I have in mind is run by a father and his two sons. Under the current regulations, non-owners of a small public service vehicle or taxi must register every time they wish to drive the vehicle. If the official owner of the vehicle is unable to drive the taxi when a fare becomes available, any other registered individuals who are non-owners must telephone a special telephone line to register before they can drive the car. I am informed that such calls can last between four and ten minutes, which often results in the loss of the fare, especially when someone needs to travel on urgent business. This is an unrealistic requirement for small family businesses such as that to which I referred. A fare who must travel urgently will not wait around while a non-owner makes a telephone call to register. I would appreciate if the Bill were amended on Committee Stage to resolve this difficulty. This could be done without affecting the important regulatory objectives of the legislation.

Since the deregulation of the taxi industry in 2000, there has been a marked and sharp increase in the number of taxis on the streets. As an RTE "Prime Time Investigates" programme reported, consumers cannot distinguish between taxi drivers who adhere to professional standards and those who fail to do so. This has created an unfair culture in the industry, as honest drivers are forced to compete with dishonest drivers who get away with cutting corners. Deputies should recognise that the vast majority of taxi drivers are decent, honest, hard-working self-employed individuals who provide an excellent service in which they take great pride. Until now, however, honest drivers have been as much the victims of rogue drivers as have members of the public. It is important that the sector is properly regulated. The Bill is necessary because the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 failed to adequately or comprehensively regulate the sector.

As I noted, the great majority of good taxi drivers are the victims of a minority of drivers who act wrongly. We should also condemn the unpleasant behaviour by clients which many taxi drivers experience. It would be wrong if we were to fail to acknowledge this problem.

The Bill gives the National Transport Authority additional regulatory powers on licensing.

It also strengthens the regime that excludes persons convicted of certain crimes from applying for or holding taxi licences, which is admirable. The Bill also contemplates crimes committed abroad.

I ask that the Minister of State consider a particular issue and, perhaps, deal with it on Committee Stage. I refer to people who were pardoned under the Good Friday Agreement but whose records prior to the coming into force of the Agreement would make them unsatisfactory in the context of holding taxi licences. This is a difficult matter to deal with, particularly in the context of ensuring the safety of passengers in taxis, encouraging good practice and seeing to it that the best of people - thankfully, this is the case in most instances - drive taxis. It is difficult to regulate in respect of those who were pardoned under the Good Friday Agreement. This matter has arisen at meetings of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, of which the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is a distinguished member. I ask that the Minister of State revisit this difficult issue and consider all possible ways of dealing with it.

I welcome the fact that crimes committed in any jurisdiction abroad are contemplated by the provisions of the legislation. If a person does something heinous or objectionable in France, Spain or wherever - something that would lead to their constituting a security risk in any circumstances - it is important that he or she be prohibited from holding a taxi licence in this country. This is an important development.

The taxi industry was more or less neglected in the past. It was only on the initiative of Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, and his Department that a review group was established. The key stakeholders within the industry were active members of that group, which was chaired by the Minister of State. As outlined in the programme for Government, this Administration is determined to tackle this issue once and for all.

The Bill is probably the most extensive item of legislation on the taxi industry that has ever been introduced in the history of the State. It is ambitious and it will go a long way towards restoring certainty, fairness and confidence to the industry. The Bill emanates from the report on the future of taxi regulation published last year and many of the 46 key recommendations contained in that report are contemplated within its provisions. At present, there are around 6,000 taxi drivers throughout the country who have committed offences of some kind or other. Even though many of these are minor in nature, some are of such a level that it should not be possible for those who committed them to continue driving taxis. Part 2 of the Bill addresses this issue. Section 10 states that the licensing authority will have the power to refuse to grant a taxi licence to an individual if it is not satisfied that he or she is of good character, if he or she was convicted of certain criminal offences or if he or she is not physically capable of driving a taxi. This part of the Bill tightens the regulation relating to the industry and will ensure that only those who are genuinely permitted to drive taxis will be able to do so. This provision will go a long way towards ensuring that the safety of citizens who use taxis will be protected and will increase the level of consumer confidence in the industry. The latter is important for those who have a real stake in the industry. It is also important for the tourism industry and in the context of people's general quality of life.

Part 3 of the Bill addresses the code of practice and conduct for taxi drivers in the context of fares, etc. We are all aware of anecdotal evidence of people being charged the wrong amount, of being taken on the wrong route and so on. Part 3 tightens matters up in this regard. This is important, particularly in the context of vulnerable elderly people who may need to travel to hospital by taxi. It is important that the regulations are extremely strict in order to secure the well-being of such individuals. The rules relating to agreed fares, etc., must be adhered to.

The demerit system - in effect, a penalty points system for taxi drivers - is a very good feature of the Bill. If a taxi driver does something wrong, he or she will receive a demerit. When he or she builds up a certain number of these, he or she will be suspended for three months. As is the case with the general penalty points system, that is a sensible regulatory mechanism and it is important in the context of consumer confidence. The demerit system will be preventative in nature.

I agree with Deputy Corcoran Kennedy's assertion regarding the allocation of specific quotas of taxi licences in rural areas. This is important because we need to strike a balance in respect of the number of taxis operating throughout the country. We must be able to rest assured that people in all areas will have access to a good taxi service.

The Bill achieves a number of objectives. It provides a code of practice, creates a demerit system, establishes regulation on a statutory basis and prevents the wrong people from holding licences. I look forward to the Minister of State's comments in respect of the issues I raised with regard to the Good Friday Agreement and small family businesses. I welcome the Bill, which is a reforming item and which will serve ordinary consumers and the majority of taxi drivers who have an interest in running a good business very well. It will also remove unsuitable people from the taxi industry, which will enhance our tourism product and people's general quality of life. The latter are very important for our cities and for the country in general.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Bill. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, on its introduction. I had a number of concerns regarding the way in which the Bill was announced some time ago. Many taxi drivers and operators and those with family businesses were annoyed when they saw headlines about the level of bad behaviour and widespread illegal activity within the industry. Those headlines tarnished all taxi drivers. I caution the Minister of State with regard to headlines of this nature. While he wanted to announce both the review and the legislation that is now before us, he must accept that one cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. He should have been conscious of the number of taxi drivers who have been operating on a professional basis for many years and who are doing their best in what has become a difficult and overcrowded market.

I welcome the fact that the Government has completed the review and is now introducing this legislation. Both were well overdue. After the former Minister of State, Bobby Molloy, deregulated the market, it became obvious to all - taxi drivers, ordinary drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or whomever - that there was an oversupply of taxis in our cities and that the number of taxis in rural areas and small towns was insufficient. Come hell or high water, nothing could convince the then Minister to change things. I recall badgering the former Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, and pleading and fighting with him to introduce change. I did not realise quite how bad things were until I arrived in Dublin in 2007 following my election to Dáil Éireann. Of course, that was still in the boom times and there were far too many taxis in the city. Those who owned and operated them were literally eating each other for business and there was not sufficient room for their vehicles on the ranks. At some ranks, cars were double- and triple-parked and there was often hassle as a result. In light of these facts, there was a need to examine the position.

The Government announced a review of the industry in May 2011 in the wake of the "Prime Time Investigates" programme. I compliment and salute the programme's makers. We might often be critical of them, but it is a pity that it took their work to make the Government act. They used undercover footage.

The review was to examine all aspects of the industry, including enforcement and licensing. The taxi regulation review report, published last January, made 46 recommendations on driver licensing. I have a problem with consultants or reviewers devising dozens of recommendations on a single matter. They are justifying their own existence. Surely six or ten recommendations would be enough, rather than 46, which take up acres of space in large reports for which the consultants get paid a fortune. Nothing can be done at Government or local authority level any more without consultants being employed. It beggars belief. Consultancy has become a large industry and needs to be reined in. There are consultants for everything. Depending on who pays them, consultants can say anything. If one is opposed to or in favour of a proposal, one can hire consultants to provide the desired answer. It is a farcical industry. I am not condemning everyone involved or their qualifications, but we need to be careful. When they make ass-loads - pardon my language - of recommendations, one knows that their review was fleeting and scant, although their fee might not be so fleeting or scant. They will not have gone into the matter in depth or used a bottom-up approach.

The report proposed actions under six categories: compliance and enforcement, a category with which I do not have a major problem; consumer and industry assurance, which is desirable; driver licensing; vehicle licensing and standards; accessibility, which is important; and fleet management and rental controls, an area that needs to be examined. The majority of taxi drivers whom I meet, particularly in Dublin where I use taxis, are ordinary, honest-to-goodness, hard-working and decent people. Most are Irish, but many are from abroad. As in every industry, their name has become tarnished by cowboys, those who wish to flout the law and who bully and intimidate other taxi drivers.

In 2011 or 2012, an attempt was made to introduce amendments. This was crazy. I must put my car through the NCT. In fact, I did so for my wife's car last Monday. Our cars must meet a standard, and rightly so. Her car only failed because of the lights' focus and it will need to be retested after their focus has been adjusted. Taxi and hackney drivers put their cars through the same test in the same place, but those tests are done to a more rigorous standard. They must also have their measurements tested. In my area in County Tipperary, for example, they must visit a hotel to test their size, boot space, luggage area and so on. This is only right, but the law now requires any vehicle older than nine years to be put off the road. This makes a farce of the test. Thanks to the test, we know whether a taxi is kept in good order regardless of whether it is nine or 13 years old. The test is an annual one or, in some cases, a six-monthly one.

The NCT and the test that PSV operators must do determine whether a car is roadworthy. There is no in-between. This was not even okay in the boom time. I know taxi drivers who, because their children were in college and they had mortgages, could not afford to buy new cars, yet they were forced to do so even if their old cars passed the tests and were in perfect motoring order. This was a case of discrimination and over-regulation and was unfair. The situation has lightened, but I hope the Bill will clarify the matter. If a car passes both tests and is certified as being safe, that is fine. We all want road safety and want every passenger carrier to be safe, but forcing people to put perfectly good cars off the road was a nonsense. They had no market in which to sell their cars, which placed financial hardship on them.

Deputy O'Reilly and others referred to small family business. Perhaps a taxi driver's child went to college and studied for many career paths, but could not find employment and went into business with his or her parent. The same could happen with partners, spouses and so on. Family businesses have always been the country's backbone, be they in rural or urban areas. They know and trust their customers and vice versa. It has become too cumbersome to transfer a licence by telephone every time it needs to be done. My business has a fleet policy of notification after the event. If a parent is at home in bed after driving all night, his or her child should be allowed to pick up a fare without going through unnecessary red tape. We must examine this issue. The Taxi Regulation Act 2003 tried to deal with some of these issues, but it failed.

The majority of taxi drivers have their affairs in order, their vehicles are safe and they follow good practices. Even before the boom, work was scarce because of their numbers. Deregulation was necessary, but there comes a point at which it should be monitored. One cannot just pull the shutter and let it off. If necessary, we must ensure there is some regulation. Oversupply kills everyone. I have seen arguments at taxi ranks at 5.30 p.m. because people tried to cut in ahead of others. There is too little business for too many taxis. One night, I walked from the front gates of Leinster House past St. Stephen's Green to Leeson Bridge. I counted 300 taxis waiting for fares. Many drivers rolled down their windows and asked whether I wanted a lift. I chose to walk. This oversupply is unfair.

Regulations were introduced for taxis. I sometimes pass a taxi rank at Heuston Station when I enter Dublin that way. Although the trains arrive frequently, there are only seven taxi spaces. The rank is swollen. When a train arrives, all of the taxis are gone within 15 minutes. Drivers are receiving fixed penalty fines. This is unfair. They are needed for when trains arrive, but trains can often be delayed and the taxis are parked outside the rank through no fault of their own. There could be as many as 30 or 40 of them. In some cases, there might be only one with its wheel over the line, yet it will still get a ticket. The ranks must be enlarged. Space is tight in Dublin, but we must allow for more taxis if we are to meet demand. Taxis would not go to Heuston Station unless there were train passengers. I am representing the many people who have told me that the rank might only move for a few minutes before it stops until the next train arrives. Heuston Station is busy and the rank can move quickly. The Garda should be cognisant of this fact and not nitpick. Gardaí are doing their job and say that this is not their problem, but the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport must consider this matter and make adequate space available for parking, given the volume of people who are picked up by taxis. This is an important issue, and not just at Heuston Station, but I am not as familiar with other areas. I have seen the long queues at Heuston Station when I drive into Dublin on Tuesday mornings. If I drove past ten minutes later, the queues could be gone.

Taxi drivers are working longer hours than ever before to make a living. Incomes have dropped across the board. In recognition of these facts, we must take immediate steps to alleviate the problem. Every sector in the economy is suffering because of the recession. Taxi drivers are no different, as people do not have enough disposable income to hire them.

The introduction of a cap on numbers would make the taxi industry fairer, safer and better equipped to deal with the trade needs of taxi drivers and the public. That must be done post haste. That was required when deregulation was introduced. It is like opening the gate into a field of cattle or sheep and letting them out. One must follow them. One must shepherd them and direct them in the way they are going. In this case, the then Minister, Mr. Noel Dempsey, just opened the shutters and let them off to hell or to Connacht. That was patent nonsense, but the former Minister was so arrogant he would not listen to anybody. He would not listen to the industry, his fellow Deputies or anybody else at the time. One could not turn that man. He was like a horny ewe without a gap. You could not turn her back. A horny ewe is a lamb. The Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, understands. Tuigeann sé é sin, but some people in the audience might not. You could not put her back with three sheepdogs and a stick. The Minister was the same. Thankfully, he is no longer able to introduce such measures. He did much damage to the country, as did his party. It is a case of good riddance to bad rubbish.

I want a taxi industry that is affordable, accessible and provides a high-quality service to the public. I accept there has been a significant increase in the number of taxis. The market is over-subscribed, which is causing huge difficulties. The Bill is required, but not the knee-jerk reaction the Minister took when he announced that all taxi drivers are villains and rogues. The nine-year rule for the replacement of taxis was extended after 31 July 2012 - I do not know for how long. Again, it was patent nonsense. It was wrong and unjust. If the vehicles being used as taxis had the proper licensing, the cars had NCTs and the requirements of taxis, for example, for luggage space, were complied with, then it was total intimidation and bullying by the State to force taxi drivers to replace their taxis. It is another element of State terrorism. I have mentioned the phenomenon previously in connection with this and the previous Government and the permanent government. I refer to the heavy hand of the law and regulation. People were frozen out of business even though they had paid for their cars, were looking after their family and paying their rates and taxes. Even though everything was in order, they were forced to change their cars. I doubt the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, SIMI, encouraged that. I have been in taxis abroad that have 300,000 km to 500,000 km on the clock and they are still operating well as taxis. Some cars can withstand such mileage.

The Indecon report made recommendations for rural areas. The Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, is from a rural constituency, so he should be well aware of the issue. I have had spats with him about rural transport and comments he made about reorganising it. I take the opportunity to thank him for visiting the Ring a Link headquarters in Kilkenny. It is a rural transport project with which I have been proudly associated since its inception. I was one of the organisers of the project in south Tipperary where I still chair the working group. It is a three-county rural transport project, and it is one of the most successful in the country. We came together and pooled our resources. We are serving people in rural areas where there are no hackneys or taxis. The asses and carts are gone, as are the traps. People do not have cars.

Anti-rural legislation has been introduced in the House, one Bill after another. I refer to drink driving legislation and road safety legislation, among others. The Government is over-zealous in its implementation of legislation and it is killing off rural Ireland. Through Ring a Link we brought back some bit of life and hope to those people who were abandoned. Bus Éireann did not want to know about them, nor CIE before it. I and others fought for years to get a bus stop in New Inn between Cashel and Tipperary. We eventually got it. Two years later, New Inn was bypassed and they forgot about New Inn and the bus stop. It was not profitable any longer. The bus travelled on the motorway. That was not much of a bus service. It is no wonder the company is millions in debt. I hope the dispute has been settled today. I would be delighted if that were the case. The Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, has returned to the Chamber. I complimented him on visiting the Ring a Link headquarters and seeing at first hand how it operates and the state-of-the-art booking system. I hope he got a good understanding of what happens there. I also hope he can see a future for such projects as Ring a Link, which comprises a three-county project.

I thank the Minister of State for his visit and being understanding. He can make up his own mind on it. I do not wish to impose my view on him. We have had our spats and I hope he has a better understanding of the system now. I have a better idea of his perspective also. Hackneys must be examined for rural areas. Law after law has been introduced. People are locked in their homes and they cannot get out from when they go to Sunday mass until the next Sunday because they are afraid to drive due to the various regulations and rules. I do not support drink driving but people in local areas should be allowed to go out to play a game of cards, go to the shop, have a drink, get the pension, have their hair done and drive home.

People live in rural isolation with their doors locked, and now there is no one to protect them. The Garda does not have the cars or resources and the Garda stations are closed. People are filled with fear. They are abandoned now. No one is on the roads in rural areas only vagabonds, thugs and thieves. They are beating up people, robbing houses and threatening people. When members of my local community rang the Garda station during the week because a strange van was seen in the area, they were told after three or four telephone calls that there was no car to send out. A few years ago there were cars everywhere to stop people at checkpoints. They frightened the life out of the people who paid their taxes and built up the country.

Vintners had a meeting in Louth during the week. Publicans are disappearing off the face of the earth. In fairness to them, they always looked after their customers. The pub might be the only place to go in many villages.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy is straying a little.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I am not really. It is all applicable. We need more hackney licences in rural Ireland. They must be allowed to pick up people. We tried to introduce the Ring a Link service. Some smart alecs tried to call it the drink a link service. We wanted to help people to socialise at Christmas and other times. However, it did not work for various reasons. The Minister of State is aware that young people from rural areas who go to town to socialise at weekends cannot get a taxi until between 3 and 6 in the morning. That is not fair. We tried to get involved. I appeal to the Minister of State to examine the provision of more hackney licences and to develop a programme for rural hackneys. We have support from community organisations such as Muintir na Tíre, development associations and local businesses. They make the point that villages will die if people cannot travel. There is an incorrect assumption that people only want to travel from villages and rural areas to town, but many people who live in towns want to go out of town for social events or to visit a grave or their family or home place. It works both ways. Ireland does not end at the Pale. There is a lot of this country outside the Pale and it is time the Government and the officials woke up to that. The country does not end at Newlands Cross. It goes a long way further.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Go raibh maith agat.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I will finish. You, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, know the situation where you are from. Ireland does not end at the Pale. People in rural Ireland are proud. They are not spongers. They want to pay their way. All they want is fair play in terms of rural transport. We only get €10 million for the entire country and Bus Éireann would spend that in an hour. As the Minister of State has seen from projects such as Ring a Link, community transport projects have proven their worth. I thank him for taking the time to visit the service in Kilkenny.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

With the agreement of the House I call Deputy Robert Dowds for five minutes. He missed an earlier speaking slot. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Robert Dowds

I thank Deputies Joan Collins and Catherine Murphy for allowing me to speak at this point.

In case I forget to say it, I listened to Deputy Boyd Barrett’s speech. One point he made must be pursued, namely, the question of whether the new taxi signs can be forged and what can be done to prevent it. The Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, is committed to having an effective taxi service, and if an issue arises in that regard, it is important it is pursued.

I commend the work of the Minister of State in introducing this important legislation. I am very much aware of the significant work he has put into the Bill because I spoke to him prior to the production of the legislation. He made a considerable effort to be inclusive of the views of the various interested parties who want to have a decent taxi industry. I thank the Minister of State for that.

The taxi industry is a classic example of what happens when there is no regulation. One ends up with an unholy free-for-all which serves no one well, neither the customer nor those who operate as taxi drivers. It is a typical example of what happened when the Fianna Fáil dog was being wagged by the Progressive Democrats tail. It controlled so much even though it had so little electoral support.

Inevitably, not all taxi drivers will be happy, but the Minister of State has gone to great lengths to consult their representatives and to come up with decent legislation.

When the process of deregulation began in the late 1980s, clearly there were far too many entry restrictions and taxis were very hard to come by. However, we went from one extreme to the other, with Dublin city often seeing traffic jams composed entirely of taxis, particularly on weekend nights. Will the Minister of State confirm if there are still as many as 12,000 taxis on the road in Dublin? It is virtually impossible for full-time taxi drivers to make a living because there are so many part-time drivers taking advantage of peak time business, particularly at weekends.

As others have mentioned, there is a serious element of criminality in the industry that needs to be rooted out, and I am very pleased the Minister of State is committed to doing so. Obviously, a great deal more work needs to be done in this area. I got a taxi recently from Dublin Airport and the driver told me that on a day when the Department of Social Protection was doing spot checks at the airport, roughly 30% of the drivers did not turn up, which suggests they were claiming social welfare benefits while driving taxis. It is important that the people who are relying on taxi driving to make a living have a level playing field.

An issue mentioned in the documentation accompanying the Bill is the need to put into effect a system whereby taxi drivers are trained in how to deal properly with tourists. That is a really important initiative, and the sooner it comes about, the better. Taxi drivers are very often the first people visitors to this country meet, and for that reason, it is important they give a good impression. Their taxis should be well presented, and they should speak properly to tourists and provide them with useful information where possible. The more taxi drivers can be used as a conduit for introducing tourists to this country, the better. Some taxi drivers are excellent in this regard, but it would be useful if training was provided to the greatest extent possible.

I thank the Minister of State for working so hard to sort out this industry, and I am particularly happy that he, as a party colleague of mine, is behind this legislation.

Deputy Joan Collins

While this legislation has been generally welcomed by the taxi industry, there are still some issues of concern with it. Furthermore, while many in the industry welcomed the fact that a taxi regulation review took place, many felt the review process was not inclusive.

The disastrous deregulation of the taxi industry by the previous Government has had an enormous effect, particularly on the livelihoods of full-time taxi drivers who cannot earn a living wage unless they work extremely long hours, which raises serious health and safety concerns, or they call on family members to drive their taxis, which means their vehicles are perpetually on the road. This is coupled with the effects of austerity which mean people do not have excess cash to be able to use taxis. When people have extra money in their pockets, they are more likely to get a taxi instead of waiting for a bus. However, when they have no extra money, they will wait for the bus. These days, it is only a certain group of people who use the taxi service regularly.

I wish to raise a number of issues of concern which are not addressed by this legislation. I use taxis quite frequently because I do not drive. As a result, I have engaged in many discussions with taxi drivers. The test to obtain a taxi licence seems to be very lax. It does not cover issues such as knowledge of the city, and it must be tightened up. Another issue of concern, which other Members have raised, is that of full-time taxi drivers competing with part-time drivers. The IMF pointed out recently that the rate of unemployment and underemployment is actually 23% in this economy. People are being forced to diversify and take two or three jobs to pay their mortgages, bills and so forth. In those circumstances, many are drawn to the taxi industry where they can work part-time. However, that is having a detrimental effect on full-time drivers. There must be a way to address this issue. A report published by Indecon suggests the taxi industry is oversupplied by between 13% and 22%, which is a serious problem. The Revenue Commissioners have PPS numbers and know who is driving part-time. It is estimated that 25% of licences are held by PAYE workers. We need to provide some protection for those who are dependent full-time on taxi driving to earn a living wage. Perhaps the Revenue Commissioners could be involved in devising some way to ensure only a certain percentage of drivers are part-time workers, let us say 5% or 6%. There may be some way to regulate that.

Another issue of concern relates to taxi drivers who are in mortgage distress. Let us take an example of a driver who is only paying the interest on his mortgage at present. He registered his car in 2003 and because the car is now ten years old, he must undergo an NCT twice every year for the next four years to keep his car on the road. On top of that, he will have to undergo the taxi suitability test twice a year for the next four years. After four years, he will have to buy a new car. Many taxi drivers cannot afford to pay their mortgages at present and they cannot get loans to keep their cars on the road, so effectively this legislation will put them out of work. If they cannot afford to put a new car on the road, they will become unemployed. However, because they are self-employed, they will not have access to social welfare payments such as jobseeker's allowance. If a taxi driver could get a letter from a bank verifying that he is in mortgage distress, would it be possible to allow such a driver to keep an older car on the road once it has passed the NCT? Alternatively, would it be possible for the NTA, using money it receives from taxi drivers, to buy a fleet of taxis and make them available to such drivers pending them arranging finance to buy new vehicles? Would it be possible to set up a special fund to provide loans to such taxi drivers so that they could get a car on the road? A car is the workplace for taxi drivers and if they cannot keep a car on the road, they have no work and will not be able to pay their mortgages. We must take a more nuanced look at the age limits for taxis in this legislation.

Deputy Catherine Murphy

I generally welcome the Bill. It is important that we get a balanced outcome for taxi users and those working in the taxi industry.

It is important in developing the industry that there is consultation. I note some people are concerned that they were not fully consulted.

Deputy Alan Kelly

There has never been so much consultation.

Deputy Catherine Murphy

I do not think one can ever consult everybody. We have come a long way since the Dublin taxi forum, of which I was a member in 1998, which was under the auspices of the Dublin Transportation Office. I represented consumer interests. It had a much wider remit than the city of Dublin, as Kildare was fully covered by the DTO. Part of the reason I wanted to get involved was that what was happening to those who wanted to operate taxis at the time was outrageous. The industry was seen as an industry of insiders. Essentially, a small number of people were controlling the number of taxi plates. They used to be advertised for sale in the newspapers for exorbitant amounts of money while at the same time those who wanted to use taxis were stranded in town or had to pay ridiculous amounts of money. Up to the time of the 2003 Act, certainly in my area on a Saturday night, it cost up to €70 to get out of town, a distance of only 11 miles. That was outrageous. There have been improvements over the years and a change in culture. In many ways the pendulum has swung from one end to the other in terms of supply, and finding the balance is difficult.

I have a collector's item: the report from the 1998 review, which I believe is hard to get. The review was published immediately before deregulation took place, so it did not have time to work its way through. In fact, it did not go anywhere near far enough in meeting the needs which were most definitely unmet. Several changes have taken place in recent years which have improved the position, including the establishment of the Commission for Taxi Regulation. While Mr. Ger Deering was the first taxi regulator, Ms Kathleen Doyle got a particularly bad press during her time. It was a difficult industry to change. I believe Ms Doyle received death threats during her time as taxi regulator.

I would like to hear from the Minister of State how the small hackney service will play out in practical terms. People do not always understand the difference between private and public hire. To ensure people are vigilant about an industry it is important that they understand the consumer rights end of it. The practical side is important.

There are two sides to the industry. Obviously there must be an assurance of sufficiency of supply and public safety - not just from the point of view of the vehicle but also with regard to the person driving the vehicle. I am aware that issue is dealt with in the Bill. It is important also to ensure the fleet is sufficient to meet all needs, including those of people with disabilities. The 1998 report recommended that all new vehicles entering the fleet be wheelchair-accessible and there was also a measure from the Revenue Commissioners in that regard. Sometimes there are complaints from people with disabilities that a vehicle is not available to them in their area, so it is important to examine how that can be delivered in practice.

On the industry side, there is no doubt it is difficult for drivers to earn a living. There is cause for concern where drivers are working long hours and putting themselves and passengers at risk. Clearly, the number of drivers in the industry is an issue. Some of those who have dropped out of the industry have emigrated as they found it was impossible to earn a living. For people who could not get a job, it was a kind of self-employment they could try if they owned a car. In many cases they got out of it because it is so difficult to earn a living. I echo the points made in regard to the area around Heuston Station. Gardaí are present there on a daily basis. That is understandable, as there is a need to keep the QBC clear, but the physical constraint on the area of the taxi rank is an issue. This is not the only location where that happens, but it is a high-profile one.

An issue that was considered at the time was that of taxi ranks. I do not think local authorities around the country have done enough. Often they see their remit as the provision of roads and footpaths but not the provision of transportation. Taxis must be included in that provision. There is no reason provision cannot be made for taxi ranks at different times - for example, late at night and at weekends - and at private locations such as pubs and discos. The main issue is to get people home safely and it is easier to police the streets if there are not large numbers of people congregating. There are benefits other than the efficient conveyance of people to their destinations.

It is fair and right that a proper vetting system be in place for those driving vehicles. If a person has a criminal conviction that puts the public at risk, that should be legislated for. I would be open to some of the points made by others about political prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement but, first and foremost, there must be a safe environment for passengers.

I have had an interest in this area for many years and I keep an eye on what is happening locally. My constituency is very close to Dublin. An issue about which I have had to complain to the NTA over the years is that of drivers with a "D" on the roof sign who stray into and ply for hire in north Kildare, particularly late at night or at weekends when a disco or a social event is taking place and they realise there is a demand for taxis. Some of the behaviour is unacceptable, and I am not just talking about people shouting or trying to get in ahead of somebody else. Sometimes it is downright dangerous, and it has been difficult to get checks done. I note in the Bill that the intention is that there will be a different regime of oversight. There are things one could not stand over. I have made complaints to the NTA and although it has taken some time to get a response, it has sorted out the problem to some extent.

On occasion I have got into a vehicle that I was sure could not have passed an NCT in the past five years and wondered whether it would be able get to its destination. It is important that the public is vigilant in that regard. Technology has changed things hugely. The idea of CCTV is a good one and the images one gets from CCTV cameras are far superior to those from the past. However, I would always be concerned about who would use them.

That footage would be important and there must be some sort of control over that data under the Data Protection Act.

The Hailo app has been a good initiative and such smartphone applications, where commission is charged on the text message or the fare, have removed the need for a radio in the cab, giving some freedom to drivers.

The driver check initiative from the National Transport Authority is worthwhile and could possibly be expanded. Deputy Collins mentioned the concept of the Knowledge in London, and I have been in situations in which I know the driver has taken me well out of my way. It is important that people remove the rogue operators by making complaints where they are merited. We want to keep the good drivers in the industry and there is nothing wrong in complaining about overcharging.

In the past ten years in the greater Dublin area, the Nitelink service has been incredibly important. We must look at this as a total operation. It is not just about a taxi and hackney service, because sometimes a bus service could also be provided. Whatever meets people's needs must be examined.

Enforcement is very important, on everything from vehicle quality to driver fitness and social welfare and Revenue checks. These are all valid to ensure those in the system are compliant. There will be some amendments on Committee Stage, but in general this Bill moves in the right direction. The movement to acknowledge it has been progressive in the past 15 years, and different Governments have done things to improve the industry. This Bill will move the industry forward in a welcome direction.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation, which has been a long time in gestation. Since 2002, we have been dealing with the negative consequences of the disastrous manner in which the taxi sector was deregulated. When I was the Labour Party transport spokesman in a previous Dáil, the ongoing problems in the sector arose time and again, and taxi workers are still raising issues of concern with me.

The taxi sector is one of the cornerstones of public transport infrastructure in this country. Taxi workers often provide a service during anti-social hours and in rural areas where there is simply no other public transport option. They also form a key part of the hospitality industry. Everyone has noted that taxi drivers are often the first point of contact for tourists and visitors to the country, and we often form our view of a country depending on the treatment we receive from the first taxi we get into.

The underlying principles of a document I prepared for the Labour Party in 2010, entitled Hailing a New Taxi Service, were that we would aim for a well-regulated taxi sector that would achieve the highest possible quality of service for passengers as well as provide a decent and sustainable income for all taxi workers. As the Minister of State noted in his Seanad speech, there continues to be a laissez-faire approach to taxi regulation, which must end as a matter of urgency. Long ago, I concluded the industry was not characterised by a laissez-faire approach but by complete regulatory failure, as in so many areas of our economy, as a result of the Ahern-Harney legacy. I therefore generally welcome the Bill, which contains some important regulatory improvements. There are some significant issues and lacunae, and I hope the Minister of State will return to those on Committee and Report Stages.

One of the key problems of the free-for-all nature of the taxi system in the aftermath of deregulation was the total absence of any restrictions on who was allowed to drive a taxi. Indeed, it was alarming to see a statement by the Minister of State in January 2013 indicating that 6,000 taxi drivers working at that time had a criminal conviction. Many of these, of course, may have been minor convictions that should not have prohibited a person from working for the rest of his life, but for the safety of all taxi users, it is completely unacceptable that anybody with a serious conviction for rape, murder or serious assault, for example, would be allowed to drive a taxi. Over the years since deregulation, there have been numerous allegations about people driving taxis and interacting with the public, including sometimes vulnerable people travelling alone, who have been convicted of serious or very violent crimes. Law-abiding drivers are also appalled that licences would be granted to individuals who may a danger to the public. Sections 10, 28 and 29 of the Bill before us, which list the reasons a person would face a mandatory disqualification or specified period of disqualification from driving a taxi, are most welcome. Schedule 1 lists the offences which would result in a life disqualification for a driver, including a conviction for murder, rape and serious sexual offences.

An important aspect of the Bill related to the issue of mandatory disqualifications for certain offences is the requirement of an applicant for a licence to inform the licensing authority of any previous convictions that may be relevant to his or her application. Section 29(1) details the obligation of an applicant in this regard. Is the Minister of State satisfied that the vetting system is robust enough to detect the non-disclosure of any serious conviction which should, under this legislation, result in a mandatory disqualification or disqualification for a significant period? The positive obligation placed on applicants to disclose information about previous convictions may not be robust enough. There may be scope for giving a much larger role to the national vetting bureau. The sanctions in section 29 for failure to disclose information to the licensing authority about previous convictions are welcome, but the scope of the provision may not be sufficient to combat the problem of individuals with previous convictions being granted licences because they have not disclosed this information to the licensing authority.

This point is particularly relevant for applicants who may have committed offences in another jurisdiction. Section 30 refers to proof of foreign convictions. Concerns have been raised about whether international co-operation between different national vetting agencies is strong enough to detect and pass on information about serious criminality which may have been committed by an Irish national or foreign national abroad. An exchange of relevant information and contact between the NTA, the Garda Síochána and similar regulatory bodies in key EU-EEA countries, including international agencies like Europol and Interpol, should be mandatory.

Similar concerns exist about the vetting of people from outside the EEA area who have applied for PSV and taxi licences. Has the Minister of State taken any steps to liaise with the police and vetting authorities in non-EEA countries to tackle this particular issue? Many submissions were made to the Minister of State related to complaints about people on particular types of visas in this country which perhaps did not entitle them to work as a self-employed person and the implications that has for vetting applicants to the profession.

Section 14 introduces a prohibition on the transfer of licences. The system for transferring licences did seem to facilitate, at least partly, an element of criminality in the licensing system, and it is a welcome move by the Minister of State which I hope will ensure a more transparent regime which includes all relevant background and suitability checks. Suggestions have been raised that the restriction of the issuing of SPSV licences to one per individual should include a mechanism where just one address is associated with each taxi licence holder, which would further strengthen the system. For this reason I also welcome the Government's commitment to introduce an online register of taxi drivers.

Section 27 lays out measures for the regulation of passengers in taxis.

That is also welcome and timely, and I commend the Minister of State for that. We are rightly concerned about enhancing the safety of workers, but it is also important to enhance measures to ensure the highest level of protection for drivers and in a strict way to detail behaviours which are totally unacceptable in a taxi or other mode of public transport. As I stated, that will be a major step forward.

A problem we in urban areas experience a good deal is where certain passengers nearing the end of their journey suddenly jump out and disappear down a laneway or wherever. I wonder has the Minister of State addressed that old, and at times quite serious, problem of fare dodging, perhaps with CCTV facilities.

Part 5 of the Bill sets out the introduction of a new demerit scheme which, as I understand it, would introduce a separate penalty-points type system for taxi regulations. The range of offences included in the demerit include overcharging, taking a less direct and longer route, and non-disclosure of required information. I understand that, under section 36, if a driver reaches eight demerit points, he or she could be suspended from driving for a period of three months. Members will be aware, of course, that taxi unions are unhappy with the introduction of the demerit scheme and the way the Minister has introduced it, and undertook strike action on 28 February last in this regard. It has been argued that some drivers could reach eight demerits through, perhaps, careless and unfortunate actions which would put them off the road. I see the Minister of State may be willing to address this. It creates difficulties for the driver's livelihood. The Minister of State is aware of this problem.

Deputy Alan Kelly

There will be an appropriate amendment.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

I welcome that.

The other question that has been put to me is about the appeals procedure. As former marine spokesperson for the Labour Party, I recall arguing about the administrative sanctions there. It is obviously important to provide a clear appeals mechanism in this case. I note the Minister of State has made some moves recently in this regard but I am not sure whether he has come far enough on the concerns that have been raised by drivers.

My colleagues, Deputies Catherine Murphy and Joan Collins, raised the issue of appointed stands and taxi ranks in section 24. This continues to be one of the most unresolved and annoying issues for taxi workers. Mr. David McGuinness of the drivers' association, Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann, recently told the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications that there are only 680 rank spaces for 10,500 taxis in Dublin where there might be 5,000 taxis on duty at any one time. In 2009, when I researched this area for the Labour Party, taxi unions estimated there were only 65 rank places for 1,150 drivers in Galway and 30 places for 370 taxi workers in Waterford, and according to my contacts during that time, there does not seem to have been much improvement across the country. As a result, often one sees taxis driving around late at night and, obviously, complaining about increased fuel costs in constantly having to move around to ply their business. In my constituency, which is probably typical, because of the absence of taxi ranks there has been a development in places such as Howth, Raheny and Donaghmede of taxis having to park in non-stand areas. In Howth, for example, despite its significant business which might see 20,000 or 30,000 visitors coming to the peninsula, we have no formal taxi rank at all and at a late-night music venue, there are taxis parking on DYLs and then being invigilated by members of the traffic corps, and being very upset about it. It has always been completely unacceptable. We do not understand why the NTA and the local authorities, in my case Fingal county and Dublin city, do not get together to solve this problem. It is easily solvable. I would like the Minister of State to review section 24 in that context. I personally used to believe that there should be a minimum statutory ratio of ranks to drivers and in that way taxis would not have to park illegally. Also, there has been the proposal from the unions for flexible ranks where spaces could be designated at core times, such as on bank holidays and for special events.

There is also another issue that has arisen in relation to ranks and stands to which colleagues may have referred earlier, that is, the problem of illegal private taxi ranks where one might find, in a hospital, college or institution, there has grown up a rank, which some seem to be able to get onto and onto which others cannot. Sometimes there is good amount of taxis at such ranks and sometimes there is not. I do not know the legal or by-law basis for these. It is something the Minister of State might examine because drivers have complained to me about not being able to work, for example, out of Beaumont Hospital, whereas other drivers can.

Concerns have also been raised in this regard about section 42, which provides for CCTV at taxi ranks. I have always supported the extension of CCTV taxi-safety programmes and the safe city taxi ranks programme. However, it would be extremely disappointing if the new CCTV at taxi ranks was used purely to detect over parking at official ranks rather than to look at all the wider issues at the stands.

Enforcement is always a key problem with regulation and Part 6 of the Bill deals with this issue. Section 38 provides that the NTA may appoint authorised persons to carry out the enforcement function and I welcome the enhanced powers for enforcement officers, for example, to inspect and examine the roadworthiness of the vehicles on private property given the absolute need to ensure the safety of all taxi passengers. However, another astonishing feature of the deregulated taxi sector was that at one point, when I was spokesperson of the Labour Party, there were only nine enforcement officers for more than 27,000 licence holders. Mr. Karl Seeber, head of corporate affairs of the NTA, informed me only a few hours ago that there are eight dedicated officers under section 49 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, which seems an incredibly small number. Obviously, this is a facility that would have to be supported by the sector itself. I previously estimated there should be up to 50 officers for the 27,000 licence holders across the country. We could also establish a basic minimum ratio, perhaps two officers per 1,000 drivers, to monitor and invigilate standards. I note Finland had an excellent model of roving inspectors, who went in and out around the city or county carrying out a continuous high level of checks to see whether drivers and vehicles were up to scratch. In his response to the debate on Second Stage, perhaps the Minister of State would tell us the exact number of inspectors and whether this will be beefed up given they will hold additional powers arising from this Bill.

I note that section 48, in Part 7, allows the NTA, with the consent of the Minister, to enter into service agreements with an outside person in order to undertake one of the functions. I would like more details. What kind of service level agreements are envisaged between the NTA and such providers in this sector?

An issue not addressed by the Bill is one I used to find most difficult and on which we looked at the provisions in many other countries. The Bill, in section 18(2), refers to encouraging and promoting competition, but apart from the serious regulatory issues, many the workers would feel that at times the oversupply of taxi cabs continues to cause significant hardship and undermine the sector. For example, the Indecon report that was launched with the report of the taxi review group concluded there was oversupply to the extent of 13% to 22% in the sector. Indecon, and subsequently the Minister of State, argued that oversupply is significantly affected, as the Minister of State said in the Seanad, by "non-compliant operators in the sector and by the low level of exit from the industry." These issues play a role, but the Minister of State might come back and look at a market-led regulatory mechanism which would take market conditions on equilibrium into account when issuing a licence in the future. We are familiar with many regulated markets, for example, in the past few days I noted that Cork city and county and Kerry have been advertising for the radio licences and the current incumbents must compete against possible new incumbents. There is a large entry fee into that sector, but it makes the point that there is regulation of supply in many sectors, in other words, the Minister of State and I cannot merely open a radio station. We might feel like doing so, but one must go through the regulator. This is an area which perhaps the Minister of State could look at again. There needs to be a system where one can regularly measure demand for taxi trips and following this monitoring, that an appropriate number of licences would be issued in response to the demand. One does not want to go back to the old position where there were far too few taxis and hackneys and where it was so difficult late at night to get a taxi, but there must be a golden mean somewhere there.

I am contacted on an ongoing basis by taxi driver constituents who are finding it increasingly difficult to earn a basic decent income to support themselves and put bread on the table for their families. Some of these men and women are driving day and night to earn very meagre wages, and that is without mentioning the impact of rocketing fuel prices, insurance and other costs.

Rightly, many of the taxi unions are also committed to ending double-jobbing in the sector, and they believe there should be a prohibition, for example, on public servants also holding taxi licences. They have suggested that workers in the industry should be full-time only. Section 11 obliges an applicant for or holder of a SPSV to inform the licensing authority of any other occupation of his or hers involving driving vehicles or any other work, depending on the time spent working. Section 11 refers to the number of hours worked in another job where the hours worked exceed a certain amount specified by the NTA, whether the employer in the main job has been informed and what conditions may be allocated to the SPSV licence holder to do the taxi driving. The conditions and invigilation regime in section 11 seem vague and will probably be difficult to enforce. All of the concerns and anguish of full-time professional taxi drivers on the impact of double-jobbers creaming off this livelihood at busy times is nowhere addressed in this Bill. Will the Minister of State consider this to see if it could be made fairer for workers?

We must haul the industry back from the slippery slope it has been on since the Ahern, Harney and McCreevy era of deregulation, with low standards and degraded wages and conditions for many drivers. The taxi men and women I meet on a regular basis want a high-quality, high-standard, professional industry where it is possible to earn a sustainable income. We definitely do not want a situation in which visitors are warned, as they are in some countries, not to use local taxi services. Our taxi drivers play a key role in providing an image of Ireland that remains with many visitors.

Taxi representative bodies who are in regular contact with me are also of the view that the Bill before us does not contain appropriate encouragement to address the problem of the lack of an adequate supply of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Colleagues have already referred to this, specifically issues relating to the mobility allowance scheme and the motorised transport grants. We should examine these.

I welcome the provisions of the Bill in Part 8 relating to the advisory committee, although I note neither the Minister of State nor the NTA is bound by some of those advices. Having such a provision in permanent legislation is good and I commend that work. In his response to the debate I would be glad to hear of the Minister of State's plans for the future development and enhancement of the taxi industry. I commend the introduction of the new signage - what has been described as a slash on the side of vehicles - as it brings about a high-quality corporate image for the industry, as more drivers get their tests done. It is the start of a commendable corporate approach.

I have always been interested in whether there could be local county and city co-operatives or a national co-operative for taxi drivers. Could there be a proposal for drivers to consider an enhanced corporate approach? In general, I welcome the improvements for the industry overseen by the Minister and I hope some of the issues I have raised will be considered.

Deputy Clare Daly

This is a very important issue and the livelihood of many citizens depends on the taxi industry. There are many people employed in it and a large proportion are in an incredibly precarious economic position because the industry is under pressure. I do not want to repeat all the points made in the debate so far, but some of them must be emphasised. As many of the full-time taxi organisations and representative groups are concerned that they were not adequately consulted in drawing up the Bill, we must take such factors into account. I agree with the point that there is probably an exaggerated focus on regulation with regard to criminal behaviour in the industry, with the emphasis on cleaning up the industry. That is somewhat unfair on hard-working and honest taxi drivers who work long hours. Nobody objects to an emphasis on public safety and cleaning up any area of society but we must be measured and bear in mind the fact that criminal activity in the industry is relatively low. We can have procedures for vetting, etc., but implementation is a factor. It is interesting that we had the input of the Garda Ombudsman last week on the Kieran Boylan case, as in that instance the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport sought information from the Garda on the individual applying for a haulier's licence. The Department was told the person had no convictions, which was a false statement, and so he was given a licence. We are discussing procedures for vetting taxi drivers but we must be confident that the gardaí who furnish much of the information are sure of their facts and that there is a transparent procedure for overseeing matters. I know of some people who may not have a criminal conviction but have had some difficulties with members of An Garda Síochána and have, as a result, found it difficult to get a taxi licence because of objections made without a sufficient basis. On the one hand, it is absolutely important to deal with criminal behaviour, but on the other, we must have a balanced approach in taking into account the state of the industry.

The key issue facing the industry is not criminality but rather the problems of full-time drivers struggling to make a living in an oversupplied market against the backdrop of a very unfavourable economic climate. In that sense, the Bill does not go far enough in regulating the industry. Many of the complaints from groups that submissions were ignored are legitimate. The biggest concern of taxi drivers - and many others - is making ends meet against a backdrop of austerity. It is that bit harder for taxi drivers because of oversupply in the industry arising from deregulation and the serious problems caused for full-time drivers. Statistics have been given detailing how Dublin has more taxis per head of population than New York, with 11,000 taxis in Dublin in 2010. That was a ludicrous position that would substantially compromise a taxi driver's ability to make a living.

We have all heard truly heartbreaking stories of people trying to make ends meet. There are drivers who get up in the middle of the night, leaving a spouse in bed, to drive around the streets and pick up a single fare that would hardly cover the price of petrol. I got a call to the office a while ago from a person who told me he had had just one fare in an eight-hour shift, and it had cost him more to go to work than the pittance he earned with the fare. After spending eight hours away from his family, he almost felt like ending it all because he was struggling so much to make ends meet. I am not overplaying the point, but the incidence of suicide in the taxi industry has been well documented by the Samaritans, as the drivers find it so difficult to make ends meet.

The biggest culprit in this has been deregulation, but there is also the issue of increased fuel costs and the cost of complying with national car tests and other regulations against a backdrop of difficult economic times. We need to take cognisance of the issue. Taxi drivers almost have it worse than anybody else in many ways and although people may think drivers only say this, it is true in many respects. For example, taxi drivers are reliant on a tax compliance certificate and are unable to work unless they furnish evidence that they have paid the home tax. That is a double whammy when they are not making enough money to live. The Bill does not give enough attention to such pressures.

In attempting to re-introduce some form of regulation the Bill has caused some problems which have been highlighted already and need to be addressed. These include the ban on the transfer of licences, the age limit for vehicles and the proposed introduction of the penalty points system. All of these need to be examined as the Bill progresses.

The taxi licence has been an asset for drivers and it will be devalued. It cannot be passed on to a family member and this, it has been argued, is a discriminatory measure. Other licence holders such as publicans are not prohibited from transferring licences but can sell them on as part of their property. This cannot be done with taxi licences which does not give rise to an even playing field. A taxi licence is for a vehicle and not a driver, so the answer given previously by the Minister of State that this is being introduced to ensure suitability of the driver is not correct. Driver suitability relates to the PSV licence but this is with regard to the vehicle. In this sense the Bill possibly gives the Minister of State the power to implement and issue another set of licences over which we have no say.

An issue which has received a good airing in the debate, and justifiably so, is that of wheelchair accessible taxis and disability. This is very much centre stage for several reasons. Those experiencing disability have suffered a huge number of blows, including with regard to the mobility allowance, and in recent weeks we have had a European Court of Justice ruling that Ireland's subsidy and refund of excise duty to disabled drivers for fuel is potentially unlawful, which is another potential undermining of disabled drivers. This is a very serious blow to this sector of society. When we say we want an integrated society we need to give disabled people the means to get around and have a free flow of movement.

The fact there has been such a substantial decrease in wheelchair taxis in the fleet will be compounded by the Bill and we must address this. The age limit on vehicles will make it more difficult. In 2009, 8% of the fleet was wheelchair accessible and last year it was less than 5%. The age limit on vehicles will mean taxi drivers will be driven off the road. Many people find it very difficult to find the means to replace a wheelchair accessible taxi, which is hugely costly. Already they must undertake two tests to determine the roadworthiness of the vehicle. If these tests are passed why should the vehicle not be allowed to continue on the road? Everybody is in favour of safe vehicles but why should a taxi driver, who adapted a taxi a number of years ago, paid heavily for it, maintained it well, looked after it, paid for the tests and kept it on the road, have to find tens of thousands of euro to replace the vehicle simply because it has become too old when it may be more roadworthy than a vehicle of a lesser age? There must be a scheme to assist service providers to replace such vehicles. If we do not have an incentive to deal with the area of disabled access in taxis we will have a problem. A problem already exists and the danger is the Bill will exacerbate it. We must consider this from the point of view not only of taxi drivers who own the vehicles which are getting older, but also the section of society which relies on taxis with disabled access.

Deputy Broughan made the point the penalty points system is being considered and the Minister of State seemed to indicate he will amend this. It has been a huge cause for concern that people feel they may be penalised for minor transgressions and could have their licences suspended based on receiving eight points without any clarity in terms of social welfare. The Minister of State has said he will address this with regard to appeals. Particularly in light of recent publicity about the general penalty points system and areas of discretion allegedly being applied, there needs to be a very transparent and open system with regard to any punitive measure which is supposed to be a corrective or disciplinary mechanism. This must be addressed. The thought of it has made the situation worse.

Many good points have been made and I will not labour them or repeat them. Taxi drivers fulfil an important public service. They provide a vital connection in the cog of free movement of people, not least those with disabilities. They work very long hours to make a modest living in very difficult situations and improvements in regulation need to be made, probably beyond what is proposed in the Bill if we are to be respectful and truly attentive to the difficult situation in which they find themselves against the backdrop of austerity.

Deputy Joe Higgins

It is unfortunate that the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 does not address the regulation of one of the most crucial issues which stands out with regard to the taxi industry today, which is a chronic oversupply of taxis. One can be sure this is the case when the taxi review group which was established by the Minister of State in 2011 and certainly was not a hotbed of socialists found, due to the economic downturn, an oversupply of 13% to 22%. One fifth of an oversupply would be excess capacity in any industry, and I suspect it is probably far more than this. Our eyewitness evidence bears testimony to this as far as Dublin is concerned, and there is a similar situation in some other cities.

On a Friday or Saturday night in Dublin the city centre provides a surreal sight with endless streams of luminous yellow snaking along the streets, approaching the city centre on all sides and stretching as far as the eye can see, as hundreds of taxi drivers, or probably in reality a few thousand, cruise the streets for passengers in the hope of making a living. When we are out looking for a taxi it is very convenient that one is instantly there, but a balance must be struck because there is a crucial human cost to this situation and a human cost to the extreme deregulation carried out in the taxi industry from 2002. Sight should not be lost of the fact that taxi drivers are self-employed public transport workers providing an essential service in our society.

Just as Bus Éireann drivers deserve a just regime, decent wages and proper conditions, so too, taxi drivers should be treated in the same way. During the time I served as a Member of the European Parliament, I used taxis quite a bit going to and from the airport. As a Dáil Deputy, on days of high pressure, one tends to use taxis regularly. Therefore, one gets to talk with a cross-section of the workforce in the taxi sector. It is clear that taxi drivers work under real financial pressure and working conditions that result from the difficulty of making a living, which is often a tortuous experience.

I have often used taxis whose drivers may have been on the road for four or five hours but had only €35 or €40 in takings. These men and women have families, mortgages and all the commitments of other workers. In addition, they have serious overheads in running vehicles on which their livelihoods depend. It is simply unjust that this section of the workforce is allowed to be put under such pressure, involving immensely long hours as they try to make a living.

Debate adjourned.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 16 May 2013

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage

Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 16 May 2013