Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

No new wheelchair accessible taxis are coming on stream because it costs more than €40,000 to meet this requirement. Even though new taxi licences will be limited to such taxis, they are not coming on stream and, therefore, the Minister is not addressing the reality. There is also a requirement that all taxis older than nine years will be scrapped and most wheelchair accessible taxis are in that age profile. The taxi regulator made a reasonable proposal to the Minister. She has a kitty of €24 million, which she cannot spend, but the Minister can permit her to spend it in accordance with the proposal that 50% of the money in the kitty goes towards a subsidy or grant for the purchase of wheelchair accessible taxis to meet demand, given that between 10% and 15% of the population have a serious mobility problem. The Minister has it within his powers to do so and boost the number of wheelchair accessible taxis. We are not doing justice to the people we serve, including the disabled and the elderly.

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