Mr. Hugh Creegan:

As the Deputy said, the establishment of a transport security force is an objective in the programme for Government. We are involved with that, together with the Department of Transport, and other parties will be involved as well. We are at an early stage in the process and ideas are developing. One of the key objectives we see is to ensure whatever we put in place is co-ordinated with An Garda Síochána and we do not lose the assistance it can give in dealing with incidents. We provided a document to the Department of Transport, which it is considering. I am sure there will be further discussions and evolutions of that over the coming months.

On taxi supply, taxi numbers are growing. Last year, we saw the highest number of new driver licences since the NTA has existed. Approximately 2,000 new drivers were licensed in 2024, and about 1,200 additional vehicles. The numbers are growing. One of the issues has been with getting drivers to work late at night in the context of safety and security concerns. We increased night-time fares last year to encourage drivers to operate more at night. Initially, it looks like that is quite successful.

All the operators have training procedures in place in respect of passengers with disabilities.