Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2013
747. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding making exceptions on taxis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7080/13]
View answerThe regulation of the taxi industry, including issues pertaining to vehicle age limit, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003. The NTA is the lead agency with responsibility for implementation of the recommendations of the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011.
The NTA carried out a consultation on vehicle standards as part of the Taxi Regulation Review in 2011 which recommends strengthening vehicle standards.
Action 10 of the Review Report recommends that the 9 year vehicle age limit should apply at licence issue or renewal for all new vehicles entering the fleet and for vehicles that have entered the fleet since 1st January 2009. Those entrants to the taxi industry since January 2009 have entered the industry on the basis of a 9-year age limit on vehicles.
As a transitional arrangement, existing vehicles in the fleet prior to 1 January 2009 can operate up to 14 years of age subject to 6-monthly NCT testing and NTA licence renewal assessment. Therefore, it is envisaged that, over time, all vehicles older than nine years will be removed from the taxi and hackney fleet.
