Vol. 547 No. 3
83 Mr. Shatter asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress made to date in calibrating taxi meters in the Carriage Office to provide taxi fares in euro; and when all taxi meters will be so converted. [32260/01]
Calibration of taxi meters is undertaken by private installation companies who supply and repair taxi meters for the trade. Calibration is the process whereby meters are programmed or adjusted to measure time and distance accurately and to calculate the fare payable in accordance with fare structures approved by local authorities. In accordance with the Metrology Act, 1996, operators of taxi meters must ensure meters conform to the requirements of the Act. Verification of taxi meters is undertaken by the legal metrology service, LMS, of the National Standards Authority of Ireland, an agency of my Department, upon request by taxi operators. Verification entails checking the accuracy of meters, including meters converted to the euro currency.
The conversion of taxi meters to euro by some Dublin based meter installation companies commenced in December 2001. The remainder of the Dublin installers and most of those in the rest of the country commenced the process on 2 January 2002. The software programmes containing the euro fares have been validated by the LMS prior to being installed in individual meters. There is no legal requirement that taxi meters be converted to euro by the end of 2001. However, installation companies are aware of the need to have all taxi meters converted by the end of the dual currency circulation period which will continue until 9 February 2002. All taxi operators have been supplied by Forfás with a special conversion kit comprising currency conversion tables and an electronic converter.
The verification of taxi meters by the LMS has been under way since mid-December. To date, approximately 22% of meters in Dublin have been verified. There is a waiting list for verification at present extending to end April 2002. The number of metered taxis in Dublin has increased to over 8,000 from 2,700 prior to deregulation. The full resources of the LMS are being applied to this work and a second test centre has been put in operation. After lengthy consultation with staff during 2001, management had sought to introduce a more efficient method of verifying fare changes on meters, but the union representing inspection staff, MSF, has placed the issue in dispute. Conciliation efforts are continuing.
It is important to note that the availability of taxis will not be affected as taxis will continue to operate pending verification of their meters. The situation outside Dublin and Bray, where 30 other local authorities license taxis, is that conversion to euro is taking place in all but six local authority areas where the setting of maximum fares is awaited or under review.
