Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
245. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if consideration will be given to the provision of support for hackney services in rural communities where it is not feasible to have a bus service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34957/23]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I launched the 2023 Local Hackney pilot scheme last January in 21 designated areas, for which applications closed on 28 February. It is a one-year grant aided pilot programme that aims to assist in the provision of part-time local hackney services in designated rural areas which cannot support a full-time taxi or hackney operation. With this new pilot service, rural communities across Ireland will be given the opportunity to have a part time local area hackney service available to them.
The National Transport Authority (NTA), manages the Rural Transport Programme on behalf of the Department of Transport, including the Local Area Hackney Scheme. The NTA will monitor the pilot over the coming year and learn from it, so that it can be rolled out across many other areas if it proves successful. Further details of the pilot scheme, including the areas currently included, are available on the NTA’s website: Local Hackney - National Transport www.nationaltransport.ie/taxi/localhackney/
