Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

While this legislation has been generally welcomed by the taxi industry, there are still some issues of concern with it. Furthermore, while many in the industry welcomed the fact that a taxi regulation review took place, many felt the review process was not inclusive.

The disastrous deregulation of the taxi industry by the previous Government has had an enormous effect, particularly on the livelihoods of full-time taxi drivers who cannot earn a living wage unless they work extremely long hours, which raises serious health and safety concerns, or they call on family members to drive their taxis, which means their vehicles are perpetually on the road. This is coupled with the effects of austerity which mean people do not have excess cash to be able to use taxis. When people have extra money in their pockets, they are more likely to get a taxi instead of waiting for a bus. However, when they have no extra money, they will wait for the bus. These days, it is only a certain group of people who use the taxi service regularly.

I wish to raise a number of issues of concern which are not addressed by this legislation. I use taxis quite frequently because I do not drive. As a result, I have engaged in many discussions with taxi drivers. The test to obtain a taxi licence seems to be very lax. It does not cover issues such as knowledge of the city, and it must be tightened up. Another issue of concern, which other Members have raised, is that of full-time taxi drivers competing with part-time drivers. The IMF pointed out recently that the rate of unemployment and underemployment is actually 23% in this economy. People are being forced to diversify and take two or three jobs to pay their mortgages, bills and so forth. In those circumstances, many are drawn to the taxi industry where they can work part-time. However, that is having a detrimental effect on full-time drivers. There must be a way to address this issue. A report published by Indecon suggests the taxi industry is oversupplied by between 13% and 22%, which is a serious problem. The Revenue Commissioners have PPS numbers and know who is driving part-time. It is estimated that 25% of licences are held by PAYE workers. We need to provide some protection for those who are dependent full-time on taxi driving to earn a living wage. Perhaps the Revenue Commissioners could be involved in devising some way to ensure only a certain percentage of drivers are part-time workers, let us say 5% or 6%. There may be some way to regulate that.

Another issue of concern relates to taxi drivers who are in mortgage distress. Let us take an example of a driver who is only paying the interest on his mortgage at present. He registered his car in 2003 and because the car is now ten years old, he must undergo an NCT twice every year for the next four years to keep his car on the road. On top of that, he will have to undergo the taxi suitability test twice a year for the next four years. After four years, he will have to buy a new car. Many taxi drivers cannot afford to pay their mortgages at present and they cannot get loans to keep their cars on the road, so effectively this legislation will put them out of work. If they cannot afford to put a new car on the road, they will become unemployed. However, because they are self-employed, they will not have access to social welfare payments such as jobseeker's allowance. If a taxi driver could get a letter from a bank verifying that he is in mortgage distress, would it be possible to allow such a driver to keep an older car on the road once it has passed the NCT? Alternatively, would it be possible for the NTA, using money it receives from taxi drivers, to buy a fleet of taxis and make them available to such drivers pending them arranging finance to buy new vehicles? Would it be possible to set up a special fund to provide loans to such taxi drivers so that they could get a car on the road? A car is the workplace for taxi drivers and if they cannot keep a car on the road, they have no work and will not be able to pay their mortgages. We must take a more nuanced look at the age limits for taxis in this legislation.

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