Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 February 2024
96. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Transport the actions he has taken to increase the number of taxi operators in regional towns and rural areas; if he will meet with an organisation (details supplied) to discuss this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6986/24]
View answerThe regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) sector, including SPSVs licensing, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. The NTA met the 'Taxi Coalition' recently, of which the Vintners Fédération of Ireland is a member, on various SPSV related issues. I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV sector.
Both the NTA and the Department have taken a number of steps to support taxi drivers nationally and to increase the number of taxis available to passengers, especially for people getting home at night.
Whilst the NTA has statutory responsibility for regulating (licensing and enforcement) the SPSV industry, taxi drivers are self-employed individuals and, as such, decide on their own business strategies within the regulatory framework. As a result, SPSV operators choose the times at which they operate.
The NTA’s Board approved an average increase of 12% on taxi fares from 1st September 2022. The increase is weighted in favour of premium hours, such as weekend nights, Sundays, and bank holidays. It is designed to attract more people to the taxi industry and to encourage more taxi drivers to work during unsocial hours, such as late nights, therefore increasing availability of taxis to passengers nationally. This late-night fare weighting is working very well, which is borne out in a much-reduced number of consumer complaints received by the NTA.
The current number of licensed vehicles is 19,779. 47% of those vehicles are licensed to drivers with addresses in rural areas. A licensed vehicle can be operated anywhere in the country. It is only the licensed driver that has a geographical area restriction. In May 2023, the NTA undertook a nationally representative survey of taxi user research which covered the topic of availability. Of the respondents, which included both rural and urban areas, 81% reported finding it easy to get a taxi (under 15 minutes).
A total of 2,098 new SPSV driver licences have been granted by An Garda Síochána, the licensing authority for SPSV drivers, in the last 12 months. This is a 72% increase when compared to the previous 12 months (February 2022 to January 2023). For 2023, the monthly average for new driver licences issued was 166. This is due to the aforementioned 2022 NTA ‘Driver Recruitment Campaign’ which ran in July 2022. In comparison, 2022 had a monthly average of 99 per month, 2021 had 45, 2020 had 71 and 2019 had 139.
Due to the difficulties experienced with sourcing replacement vehicles, vehicle age limits were extended several times during the Covid pandemic, therefore ensuring no operator exited the industry simply because of the need to replace a vehicle. The NTA introduced Regulations in late 2022, permitting a further extension to the final operation date of vehicles due to reach their final date of operation/maximum permissible age between 13 March 2020 and 31 December 2024. They do not expect to have to further extend vehicle age limits beyond that date. In addition, the period that an SPSV licence may rest in inactive status after expiry was permanently extended to 24 months (previously 12 months).
In areas where there is a demonstrated lack of SPSV services, applications are open to any person who wishes to provide a local area hackney service, subject to the regulations. To operate this service, two licences are required. These are: (1) a local area hackney licence for the vehicle – this three-year licence is obtainable from the NTA; and (2) a licence to drive a local area hackney – this licence is obtainable from An Garda Síochána. It is not required if a person already holds a valid licence to drive small public service vehicles.
A resident of the area in respect of which the local area hackney licence is sought, is not required to undertake the Industry Knowledge or Area Knowledge tests normally applying for SPSV driver licences. Local area hackney drivers nevertheless must be licensed, and their vehicles must be licensed and insured. There are currently 22 local area hackney operators active nationwide.
In 2023, the NTA launched the Local Area Hackney Pilot Scheme, a grant-aided scheme to support rural transport needs where existing transport services were found to be lacking. Despite significant work undertaken by the NTA to support the provision of local hackney services nationwide, only two operators have chosen to become licensed under that Scheme (Roundwood and Castlepollard).
Finally, there is no cap on either vehicle or driver licence numbers in Ireland. The NTA is currently accepting licence applications for wheelchair accessible taxis, wheelchair accessible hackneys, limousines, and local area hackneys.
