Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is an issue I have been raising at the Dublin joint policing committee for a number of years. I am not in favour of an outright ban and I believe a middle ground can be achieved. Unless we get to the middle ground, however, I would understand where the Minister is coming from on this matter.

I have always believed that local councils should be able to regulate jaunting cars. There were issues with the number of horse and cart vehicles around the Guinness factory in my area. Eventually, councillors came up with a regulation as to where they would park and what standards would apply, although we were told that this was not for rickshaws. The Minister mentioned the variety of rickshaws but the only ones with which there is a road safety problem are those which are cycled because the motorised ones are covered by the Road Traffic Act and drivers have to have insurance and all the other safety elements. This may not be the case with converted bikes, however.

Rickshaws are also vehicles for hire and that should mean a different approach. There are regulations around taxis, which cannot just go out and ply their trade willy-nilly. People complain to me about rickshaws ripping them off but I tell them not to pay them as they have no right to look for money. If a person gets into one and the driver is wiling to bring him or her around the city, he or she can get out and say "Thanks a lot". It is just hard luck on the driver if the person does not pay because there is no commercial contract if a driver does not have a licence to ply his or her trade in this city. They are street traders and every street trader has to have a licence. I am a firm believer in a licensing regime and that a regulation system will pay for itself with the costs of registering a vehicle and having an NCT each year, as well as applying for a licence and sitting the driving test.

It is up to the Garda Síochána to stop what we saw on RTÉ lately. If that means harassing those who are illegally transporting drugs around the city in rickshaws, so be it. Taxi drivers have complained for years about the joint social welfare, customs, immigration and garda patrols targeting them so why should those who break the law not also be targeted?

That should have been done on an ongoing basis, which might have addressed some of those who have become involved in these activities.

If the Minister wishes, from a health and safety perspective, I would have no problem in supporting him in banning rickshaws overnight as long as regulations were put in place very soon thereafter. I have seen the amendment which we were told could not be implemented. The Department was supposed to come back with an alternative but that was many months ago. My own joint policing committee wrote to the Minister and the NTA to try to ascertain when it could act on this because it is an issue in my area. I have dealt with a number of people who have been injured in accidents involving rickshaws. There is absolutely no comeback against drivers or owners because there is no way to identify them. There is no registration number on the rickshaws and those involved in these accidents disappear as quickly as possible. One woman broke her arm when a rickshaw toppled over, its wheel having come off. The driver simply legged it and left the rickshaw there. There was no way of contacting him or even determining if he was the owner of the rickshaw. There is no mechanism for chasing up drivers or owners.

The Minister said in his opening statement that this is a major resource issue for An Garda Síochána and the NTA. Kevin Street Garda station, one of the stations in the city centre that would cover a lot of the areas in which rickshaws operate, has 46 fewer gardaí than ten years ago. Even with the recent increases, that station only got an extra three gardaí. The Garda station itself is brand new and looks brilliant but there is nobody in it because very few gardaí are based there. I accept that this is not the responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. It may be under his control in Stepaside but not in this context. That said, he should ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when he will provide additional resources, not just to city centre Garda stations in Dublin, but also to stations in Cork, Galway and Limerick which also have a problem with rickshaws, to enable them to tackle the illegal activities in which some drivers are involved.

I am reluctant, given their quirky contribution to tourism, to ban rickshaws. It is something that people do when they go abroad. I do not get rickshaws in Dublin because I know my way around and I walk but some people enjoy them. We should consider regulating them. When rickshaws first came on the scene in this city, they were sponsored by a company - I think 7 Up - and they were all a standard size and the drivers wore a uniform. Rides were free, with the option of giving a tip to the driver. The rickshaws were basically mobile advertisements. That is something that could be looked at again in the context of regulation. Perhaps rickshaws could carry advertisements as a way of generating funding. Dublin Tourism could use to them to advertise different attractions in the city and the same could apply in Galway or Cork. They could also be used by local authorities rather than just for commercial advertising.

I am very concerned about the state of some of the vehicles that are plying their trade, day in and day out. What goes in this city, particularly at weekends, must be addressed. We have regulated other public service vehicles, including horses-and-carts. We can address both aspects of this. We can tackle the problems while allowing the positive trade to continue.