Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There are many issues impacted by Covid-19 in terms of transport. I do not have time to address all of them but as a general remark, while social distancing and Covid-19 is around, if we are going to maintain our public transport system it has to be on a not-for-profit basis. It will not be commercially viable, but we cannot do without it. We have to move to a not-for-profit approach. On aviation, we need to reconsider renationalising what used to be the national airline in order to maintain air infrastructure.

The main questions I wish to ask are about the taxi industry, which was briefly referred to my Ms Graham, but really it has been addressed in a cursory way. In response to a request sent through me from the four taxi representative groups, the Taoiseach said he would ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to meet these groups. I have still had no reply from the Minister. That is not Ms Graham's issue, I want to state that for the record. He should answer and agree to meet the four taxi representative groups because they are facing absolute devastation. I would urge that it is the case and I hope our committee would support that call. They are in serious trouble for all the obvious reasons. The crucial thing that has to be discussed is a roadmap and financial package of supports in order to keep the livelihood of taxi drivers sustainable.

I have some questions for Ms Graham. All licences that expired before 12 June for taxi drivers have an extension of three months. What happens to licences that expire after 12 June? Taxi drivers need certainty, they should have the extension and be given that commitment and certainty. The NCT and suitability tests need to be done in order to get a licence.

Given the financial hit that taxi drivers have taken would Ms Graham consider not charging for those? Could she tell us whether NCT and suitability tests could be done together rather than separately, which used to be the case? Can taxi drivers who choose to try to get back to work be prioritised for those tests? Regarding the state of the taxi industry, has Ms Graham information on how many taxi drivers are on the Covid-19 payment? Can she tell us how many are old-age pensioners over 66 who may be working but are not entitled to the payment?

A driver can suspend a licence for a year, but after that they have to pay a €500 reinstatement charge. While the public health situation remains uncertain, drivers may wish to suspend their licence for a longer period. Could that charge be waived, to give them some support? Also, could the ten-year rule for the age limit of cars be changed to a 15-year rule? Again, this is because of the financial cost that will be incurred by taxi drivers in replacing their cars after ten years, given that they are going to be in deep trouble.

Finally, there are no clear guidelines or support for taxi drivers in terms of health, or for standardised screens. There are also insurance issues. Could Ms Graham comment on that because it is a serious concern for many taxi drivers?