Ned O'Keeffe
Ceist:409 Mr. N. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the concessions which will be made by his Department regarding wheelchair accessible taxis. [8282/02]
Written Answers. - Taxi Regulations.
Under the existing public service vehicle regulations the fee for the grant of a wheelchair accessible taxi licence is fixed at €125, with a €6,300 fee for ordinary taxi licences. There are no current proposals to provide other concessions for wheelchair accessible taxis.
I have recently announced the publication of a consultation paper to elicit comments and submissions from interested parties by 30 April 2002 on a range of issues with a view to the future development of further qualitative improvements in taxi services. The consultation paper has been prepared against the background of the liberalised regime of taxi licensing and the stated policy that, by end 2003, the process will commence of making all taxi vehicles wheelchair accessible.