Mr. Alan Cooley:

I will take the first question on the increase in people coming into the market and applying for licences. I asked what age groups were involved and they said students were coming into the market. I asked if they were really telling me that students were going to get a loan to enter the market. They want to push students straight into the rental market. That is their first option. Students are not going to be single licence holders but are going into the rental market, where they are under pressure. In terms of getting new people to take up licences and do tests, even when they do the tests, they are looking at a three- to four-month wait to get their licence. That is just another example of the lack of joined up thinking in the NTA.

The transfer of taxi licences is so important. The transfer of licences from people who are exiting the market is crucial. They have a car, a sign, a meter and a licence. It is so simple and is basically down to a question of clerical administration. If someone is leaving our industry, it should be easy for him or her to transfer the vehicle and the meter to somebody else and then it would only be a matter of weeks to have thousands of vehicles on the road. We have people who have had cars in their driveways for years, since the start of the pandemic. We reckon that 3,500 drivers have exited the industry because of the rules and regulations and the fact that licences cannot be transferred. The system is totally inflexible. We are delighted to be here today because the transfer of the licences of those who are exiting the industry is a major issue.