Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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But not beyond that, which is very unfair because there are a lot of private operators out there. We are very lucky to have one down in west Cork, Damien Long, who has completely changed the direction of transport for the people of west Cork. We are blessed to have him now. It is not just him, however. There are other private operators out there who need to be included in that 20% reduction so it goes right around.

Rural communities have no taxi and hackney operators. The main reason for this is the stringent licence criteria. Basically, as far as I know and I must check my figures here, there are roughly around 54 industrial knowledge questions and 36 area knowledge questions. People do not seem to have an issue with the industrial knowledge questions, which are important, but the 36 area knowledge questions are absolutely ridiculous, asking where is a hospital in some places or where is a bed and breakfast accommodation in another place. That has to change. Some slight tweaking could be done here to change that so we can get people interested. People who want to go out for a meal cannot go out because they cannot get a taxi or a hackney cab. This is happening right through rural Ireland. It is a crisis that is growing every day.

Are we looking at solutions? There could be a such thing as a local area licence aspect to this. A driver who may have a B licence and who is fully Garda vetted should be let drive with an existing operator. If the rules are broken, the existing operator takes it on the chin. For example, in the morning, if one person wanted to be picked up from Cork Airport, a driver and a double decker bus can drive up and collect this person but the driver cannot get a hackney or a taxi licence. Some of these drivers, who have been driving buses for 20 years throughout the country, are applying for this licence and cannot get it. I am not being racist in here but foreign nationals, and only for them we would have no transport or very little transport, are able to come in here and probably not even know our language but they know how to get around the system because there is a way around it. This cannot be allowed. We have genuine people out there who want a taxi and hackney licence so they can drive in a rural community, in their own community, and they are being asked questions that no one should ever be asked.

Some changes have to be made there. Once these changes are made, then perhaps a local area licence could be allowed where the driver 100% yes has to have a licence, A or B, and has to be fully Garda vetted. This goes back to the local operator who provides that service, provides the vehicle, and makes sure they would be servicing those areas in Donegal or west Cork. There needs to be some change because we are in a desperate situation. It is all because a little bit of the rules and regulations do not make a lot of sense. The 54 industrial knowledge questions are important, yes, but I do not agree with the area knowledge and nobody else who is doing it agrees either. They think it is the craziest thing ever. Is there any movement there or are we wasting our time?