Mr. David McGuinness:

The recommendation that the licence become non-transferable is seen as unfair within the industry. Most of the people in the industry have paid for the licence. It was always considered an asset, something one might invest in further. However, now that the licence has become non-transferable, one will think "It is not worth anything to me, so I will just plod along." There will never be any extra value put into the investment and there will be no return for it. The big issue with non-transferability is the family situation. In rural areas the taxi is a family business. If non-transferability goes ahead as proposed, the taxi will become defunct on the death of the licenceholder and the individual who works the taxi will have to start the process again, although at present there is a prohibition on the licensing of taxis. I do not know if the Minister or the review body have got it right. They indicated that the non-transferability of the licence is also related to the vetting procedures.

We requested a Deputy to table a question on the non-transferability of the taxi licence and the Minister of State's response was that the underlying principle for this proposal is that a licence should determine a person's suitability to carry out a function and it should not have a monetary value or be traded on the open market. It is not the taxi licence that determines ones suitability to drive a taxi, it is the PSV licence. The PSV licence never had a monetary value nor could it be traded on the open market. If that is the reason the legislation is being introduced, it will not achieve its stated objective. The PSV licence in conjunction with the vetting procedures determine suitability to drive a taxi. It is not a requirement to have a driver's licence nor a PSV licence to own a taxi. One can accumulate multiple licences without owning a PSV licence. The reply to the parliamentary question in the Dáil refers particularly to the PSV licence.