Vol. 575 No. 5
152 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport his views on the comments by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and the European Committee on Petitions on the effects of taxi liberalisation and in particular the taxi hardship fund. [28726/03]
153 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on the progress of implementing the recommendations of the taxi hardship panel. [28727/03]
154 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport if he will report on negotiations with a company, details supplied, towards setting up a process for applicants to apply for compensation. [28728/03]
155 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport the date by which he expects payments to begin from the taxi hardship fund. [28729/03]
157 Mr. O'Connor asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the latest statement by FAIR, Families Advocate Immediate Redress, on the deregulation of the Irish taxi industry; his proposed responses to the issues raised by the group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28804/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 to 155, inclusive, and 157 together.
Regulations were made in November 2000 to provide for a revised taxi licensing regime in response to an October 2000 High Court judgment that created the legal position that limitation of taxi licences in the interests of existing licence holders could not be sustained.
In February 2002 the Government approved the appointment of a panel of three independent persons to report in general terms on the nature and extent of extreme personal financial hardship which may have been experienced by individual taxi licence holders arising from loss of income as a direct result of the liberalisation of entry to the taxi industry on 21 November 2000. No prior parameters were imposed on the recommendations the panel might make. The panel invited submissions from taxi licence holders and also met taxi representative groups and some individuals who made submissions before finalising and submitting its report to me. The report of the panel recommended the establishment of a scheme to provide payments to individual taxi licence holders who fall into one of six categories that the panel assessed as having suffered extreme personal financial hardship. The panel recommended that a range of payments might be made to eligible and qualifying taxi licence holders for sums ranging from €3,000 to €15,000 depending on the category of hardship involved.
I have accepted the report of the taxi hardship panel and the Government has also approved the implementation on a phased basis of its recommendations in accordance with An Agreed Programme for Government. This position remains unchanged and I have no proposals to reopen either the terms of the taxi hardship panel report or the Government's decision on it.
