Mr. Gerard Macken:

We have had no assurances. We read the guidelines on the statutory instrument. It seemed to be very hurried and it was drafted in the context of public transport providers. The statutory instrument does not cover SPSVs or taxis. There have been no guidelines. The only guidelines we have on our own safety is refusing people entry to taxis where it might cause altercations. We want to stay as far away from the public as we can for our safety and theirs.

The last thing we want is face-to-face altercations over the lack of a Government statutory instrument. Again, it is down to the advice that was given. If the proper people had been there, giving the proper advice, it would be a different matter. We could have gone into the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 to help create a statutory instrument and brought it forward from there. We would have had some legal standing on it. We have no legal standing in relation to mandatory wearing of face masks in taxis or any small public service vehicles, including limousines and hackneys, which is a total disgrace. The issue is a lack of correspondence with taxi representatives from the NTA and some Departments.