Ms Deirdre Hanlon:

There has been engagement by the NTA, the Department and the Minister primarily through the taxi advisory committee. Its official name is, as my colleague said, the Advisory Committee on Small Public Service Vehicles but it is known more commonly as the taxi advisory committee. It is set up under statute. It has a number of members, including six from the taxi industry. There are also members appointed with a public interest perspective and members appointed with a business perspective. The chairman is a retired head of traffic in the Garda. The committee has put together a number of recommendations. At the Minister's meeting with the committee, it was in the process of looking at the situation across the industry. The Minister encouraged the committee to produce its report and send it in. That has arrived within the past few days, during the course of last week, and I can assure the Deputy that there will be further engagement.

There is a meeting scheduled for next week that both the Department and the NTA will be attending and giving an initial reaction to the recommendations that the industry group has to come up with.