Mr. Hugh Creegan:

The vetting is done by An Garda Síochána and we have no involvement in it. I know it is very difficult for the Garda to get information from certain jurisdictions, but beyond that, I would not feel competent to deal with the Deputy's question.

On taxis being used by people to access the bus lanes, I have no evidence of that happening. I am aware some taxis were bought in the past for that purpose, but at that time, all one needed to do was to put on a roof sign and one could take it off again at the end of one's journey. Now, however, the fact that taxis must have permanent signs on the front doors has diminished the attractiveness of that proposition.

Pulling up in unsuitable places and the use of CCTV has been mentioned. There is an issue with a lack of rank space in various places and drivers are queueing in inappropriate places to try to gain fares.

I understand the reason for the argument that those who pull up should not be pursued and prosecuted, however, the drivers who have queued legitimately are just as upset that we are not dealing with the issue. We get as many complaints about not dealing with the issue as we get about dealing with it. We try to be pragmatic. We understand the difficulties and are not terribly draconian. Drivers who have been in a queue for between 30 minutes and an hour are upset when somebody who gets ahead out of turn gets the fare.