Taxi Regulations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 May 2014

Thursday, 1 May 2014

Ceisteanna (200)

Derek Keating

Ceist:

200. Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide justification for the fact a licensed taxi driver (details supplied) who paid a considerable sum of money to acquire a taxi licence and has reached retirement age is concerned the taxi licence cannot be sold or transferred to the person's child, who is currently out of work, and now the person faces a considerable financial loss as a result; and if he will reconsider the position of the Taxi Regulator. [19885/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

 Action 14 of the Taxi Regulation Review Report, 2011, recommended the prohibition on the transferability of small public service vehicle (SPSV) licences with effect from 1st October 2012. The underlying principle for the recommendation was that a licence should determine a person's suitability to carry out a function and it should have no monetary value or be traded on the open market. The Report's recommendations were widely published to the industry, including through the National Transport Authority's and industry updates as well as on the various taxi forum websites.

It was intended that the measure would be introduced with effect from 1st January 2013 by way of regulations to be made by the National Transport Authority who have responsibility for the regulation of the taxi sector. However, it was concluded that it would be more appropriate to include such a provision in primary legislation.

The measure was therefore included in Section 14(1) of the Taxi Regulation Act, 2013 which was commenced with effect from the 6th April 2014.