Mr. David McGuinness:

I would like to give an example of the inflexibility built into the system. There are two licences in the taxi industry - the PSV driver's licence and the taxi plate licence. The PSV driver's licence is renewed every five years. We have a number of members whose five-year licence expired during the pandemic. Once a year has passed following expiry, applicants must resit the test. Drivers are being told they have to resit the test even though some of them have been driving taxis for up to 30 years. Through no fault of their own, their licences expired. They may not have been able to come out, they may not have worked during the pandemic and may have been housebound but they are now being told that they must resit their test. Many of them have years of experience driving taxis. That is just one example of the inflexibility that we face from the TAC and the NTA.