Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 September 2020
202. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Transport the supports in place for taxi drivers to allow them to repackage their business model in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic (details supplied); the measures or incentives in place to help them restart; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21555/20]
View answer212. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Transport the measures being taken to assist the taxi industry during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21775/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 202 and 212 together.
I recognise that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of restrictions as part of the necessary public health response, passenger demand for taxis and other small public service vehicle (SPSV) services has fallen considerably and many operators stopped working temporarily.
COVID-19 has had a severe impact on the SPSV sector, but it has also had a profound impact on communities, businesses, families and individuals across the country. As COVID-19 is a national crisis, it merits a national response.
The Government’s July Stimulus Package, co-ordinated by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, built on the extensive enterprise and employment supports already deployed by Government in response to COVID-19 with the aim of helping to get Ireland’s businesses, including SPSV businesses, back on their feet. Officials from the Department of Transport and the NTA, the statutory taxi regulator, have been working together alongside officials in other Government Departments to ensure that SPSV operators, many of whom are self-employed, can avail of the range of COVID-19 financial support measures to the greatest extent possible.
SPSV operators, many of whom are self-employed, can presently avail of a range of the available measures, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), which is available until April 2021, and the Enterprise Support Grant for businesses impacted by COVID-19, which was launched by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on 14 August 2020.
The Enterprise Support Grant is available to assist eligible self-employed recipients who come off the PUP on or after 18 May 2020 and who are not liable for commercial rates. The grant provides business owners with a once-off grant of up to €1,000 to restart their business which was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding is awarded for eligible costs up to the maximum of €1,000, and is awarded on costs relating to opening the relevant business, such as safety measures, repairs, fuel, wages and business advice or mentoring.
In addition, self-employed individuals who were profitable in 2019 but not in 2020 due to COVID-19 may be able to avail of an income tax relief off-set up to €25,000 of 2020 losses against 2019 profits.
SPSV businesses, such as licensed taxi dispatch operators, can also avail of measures such as the COVID-19 Restart Grant, the COVID-19 Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and the COVID-19 Business Loan Scheme, which involves loans of up to €25,000 interest-free for six-months, with a Government rebate of interest paid in the following six months.
For its part, the National Transport Authority (NTA), the statutory regulator, took a series of actions to reduce the immediate financial burden on SPSV operators and to make it easier for them to return to the industry when circumstances change. These actions included licence extensions, the waiver of late licence renewal fees, and, in conjunction with the motor insurance industry, the suspension of SPSV insurance for those operators who decided to temporarily stop working and suspend their licences. Since the onset of the pandemic, the NTA has communicated regularly with individual SPSV operators in relation to the impact of COVID-19 on the SPSV industry. It has also published information on its website for the SPSV industry, including guidance on the installation of screens and guidelines on how to keep vehicles clean to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The focus of the efforts of the Department of Transport and the NTA has been on assisting those who have stopped working to get back to work as the economy reopens and passenger demand for SPSVs returns. In this regard, this Department is in regular contact with the NTA to monitor the impact that the reopening of the economy in line with the Government's Roadmap to Reopening Society and Business is having on demand for SPSV services and to ensure that SPSV operators who have temporarily stopped working are well placed to return to work. Officials from this Department and the NTA are also continuing to engage with the Advisory Committee of Small Public Service Vehicles in relation to the proposals in the report made by that Committee on assisting the SPSV sector to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
