Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2021
69. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport if he will request the National Transport Authority to establish a policy whereby taxi drivers can sell back their plates to the authority if they wish to leave the industry. [33739/21]
View answerThe Deputy may recall that prior the liberalisation of the taxi market, taxi licences changed hands for upwards of IR£80,000 in a broken market which favoured incumbents and disadvantaged both new entrants eager to earn a living and the general public that wished to use taxis.
The current licensing regime for Small Public Service Vehicles (SPSVs) is built upon the principle that the purpose of a licence is to indicate a person’s suitability to carry out a function and to ensure that the holder of a licence is subject to lawful conditions and restrictions. As such, a licence should not have, by association, a monetary value or be tradable on the open market. As quantitative restrictions have been removed from the taxi market and there are no barriers to entry to this industry - other than the obligation to use a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) - it is not clear how the transferring of licences would deliver benefits to the industry or members of the public that use these services, especially those who require access to WAVs. Accordingly, there is no basis for a "buy back" scheme of the type outlined by the Deputy.
