Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2015
374. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 322 of 15 April 2015, if she will provide an update on the Garda Síochána report she commissioned. [24825/15]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that I recently received the report referred to from the Garda authorities. The position is that where an application for the grant of a public service vehicle licence is made, the Commissioner may, subject to the provisions of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) (Licensing) Regulations S.I. 292 of 1978, grant a licence in respect of a vehicle to which these Regulations apply to the owner of the vehicle. Article 6(4) of the Regulations states, inter alia, that the Commissioner shall not grant a public service vehicle licence unless she is satisfied that the vehicle is safe for the carriage of passengers. I am advised that in this instance the vehicle was deemed not safe for the carriage of passengers due to the use of a single sliding door as being the only accessible door to the majority of passengers, and that in the event of an emergency, such a single door might not provide appropriate and adequate egress from the vehicle.
The Deputy will appreciate that I have no function in relation to the assessment of such applications, which is a matter for the Commissioner under the Regulations referred to.
