Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that.

The other question that has been put to me is about the appeals procedure. As former marine spokesperson for the Labour Party, I recall arguing about the administrative sanctions there. It is obviously important to provide a clear appeals mechanism in this case. I note the Minister of State has made some moves recently in this regard but I am not sure whether he has come far enough on the concerns that have been raised by drivers.

My colleagues, Deputies Catherine Murphy and Joan Collins, raised the issue of appointed stands and taxi ranks in section 24. This continues to be one of the most unresolved and annoying issues for taxi workers. Mr. David McGuinness of the drivers' association, Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann, recently told the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications that there are only 680 rank spaces for 10,500 taxis in Dublin where there might be 5,000 taxis on duty at any one time. In 2009, when I researched this area for the Labour Party, taxi unions estimated there were only 65 rank places for 1,150 drivers in Galway and 30 places for 370 taxi workers in Waterford, and according to my contacts during that time, there does not seem to have been much improvement across the country. As a result, often one sees taxis driving around late at night and, obviously, complaining about increased fuel costs in constantly having to move around to ply their business. In my constituency, which is probably typical, because of the absence of taxi ranks there has been a development in places such as Howth, Raheny and Donaghmede of taxis having to park in non-stand areas. In Howth, for example, despite its significant business which might see 20,000 or 30,000 visitors coming to the peninsula, we have no formal taxi rank at all and at a late-night music venue, there are taxis parking on DYLs and then being invigilated by members of the traffic corps, and being very upset about it. It has always been completely unacceptable. We do not understand why the NTA and the local authorities, in my case Fingal county and Dublin city, do not get together to solve this problem. It is easily solvable. I would like the Minister of State to review section 24 in that context. I personally used to believe that there should be a minimum statutory ratio of ranks to drivers and in that way taxis would not have to park illegally. Also, there has been the proposal from the unions for flexible ranks where spaces could be designated at core times, such as on bank holidays and for special events.

There is also another issue that has arisen in relation to ranks and stands to which colleagues may have referred earlier, that is, the problem of illegal private taxi ranks where one might find, in a hospital, college or institution, there has grown up a rank, which some seem to be able to get onto and onto which others cannot. Sometimes there is good amount of taxis at such ranks and sometimes there is not. I do not know the legal or by-law basis for these. It is something the Minister of State might examine because drivers have complained to me about not being able to work, for example, out of Beaumont Hospital, whereas other drivers can.

Concerns have also been raised in this regard about section 42, which provides for CCTV at taxi ranks. I have always supported the extension of CCTV taxi-safety programmes and the safe city taxi ranks programme. However, it would be extremely disappointing if the new CCTV at taxi ranks was used purely to detect over parking at official ranks rather than to look at all the wider issues at the stands.

Enforcement is always a key problem with regulation and Part 6 of the Bill deals with this issue. Section 38 provides that the NTA may appoint authorised persons to carry out the enforcement function and I welcome the enhanced powers for enforcement officers, for example, to inspect and examine the roadworthiness of the vehicles on private property given the absolute need to ensure the safety of all taxi passengers. However, another astonishing feature of the deregulated taxi sector was that at one point, when I was spokesperson of the Labour Party, there were only nine enforcement officers for more than 27,000 licence holders. Mr. Karl Seeber, head of corporate affairs of the NTA, informed me only a few hours ago that there are eight dedicated officers under section 49 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, which seems an incredibly small number. Obviously, this is a facility that would have to be supported by the sector itself. I previously estimated there should be up to 50 officers for the 27,000 licence holders across the country. We could also establish a basic minimum ratio, perhaps two officers per 1,000 drivers, to monitor and invigilate standards. I note Finland had an excellent model of roving inspectors, who went in and out around the city or county carrying out a continuous high level of checks to see whether drivers and vehicles were up to scratch. In his response to the debate on Second Stage, perhaps the Minister of State would tell us the exact number of inspectors and whether this will be beefed up given they will hold additional powers arising from this Bill.

I note that section 48, in Part 7, allows the NTA, with the consent of the Minister, to enter into service agreements with an outside person in order to undertake one of the functions. I would like more details. What kind of service level agreements are envisaged between the NTA and such providers in this sector?

An issue not addressed by the Bill is one I used to find most difficult and on which we looked at the provisions in many other countries. The Bill, in section 18(2), refers to encouraging and promoting competition, but apart from the serious regulatory issues, many the workers would feel that at times the oversupply of taxi cabs continues to cause significant hardship and undermine the sector. For example, the Indecon report that was launched with the report of the taxi review group concluded there was oversupply to the extent of 13% to 22% in the sector. Indecon, and subsequently the Minister of State, argued that oversupply is significantly affected, as the Minister of State said in the Seanad, by "non-compliant operators in the sector and by the low level of exit from the industry." These issues play a role, but the Minister of State might come back and look at a market-led regulatory mechanism which would take market conditions on equilibrium into account when issuing a licence in the future. We are familiar with many regulated markets, for example, in the past few days I noted that Cork city and county and Kerry have been advertising for the radio licences and the current incumbents must compete against possible new incumbents. There is a large entry fee into that sector, but it makes the point that there is regulation of supply in many sectors, in other words, the Minister of State and I cannot merely open a radio station. We might feel like doing so, but one must go through the regulator. This is an area which perhaps the Minister of State could look at again. There needs to be a system where one can regularly measure demand for taxi trips and following this monitoring, that an appropriate number of licences would be issued in response to the demand. One does not want to go back to the old position where there were far too few taxis and hackneys and where it was so difficult late at night to get a taxi, but there must be a golden mean somewhere there.

I am contacted on an ongoing basis by taxi driver constituents who are finding it increasingly difficult to earn a basic decent income to support themselves and put bread on the table for their families. Some of these men and women are driving day and night to earn very meagre wages, and that is without mentioning the impact of rocketing fuel prices, insurance and other costs.

Rightly, many of the taxi unions are also committed to ending double-jobbing in the sector, and they believe there should be a prohibition, for example, on public servants' also holding taxi licences. They have suggested that workers in the industry should be full-time only. Section 11 obliges an applicant for or holder of a SPSV to inform the licensing authority of any other occupation of his or hers involving driving vehicles or any other work, depending on the time spent working. Section 11 refers to the number of hours worked in another job where the hours worked exceed a certain amount specified by the NTA, whether the employer in the main job has been informed and what conditions may be allocated to the SPSV licence holder to do the taxi driving. The conditions and invigilation regime in section 11 seem vague and will probably be difficult to enforce. All of the concerns and anguish of full-time professional taxi drivers on the impact of double-jobbers creaming off this livelihood at busy times is nowhere addressed in this Bill. Will the Minister of State consider this to see if it could be made fairer for workers?

We must haul the industry back from the slippery slope it has been on since the Ahern, Harney and McCreevy era of deregulation, with low standards and degraded wages and conditions for many drivers. The taxi men and women I meet on a regular basis want a high-quality, high-standard, professional industry where it is possible to earn a sustainable income. We definitely do not want a situation in which visitors are warned, as they are in some countries, not to use local taxi services. Our taxi drivers play a key role in providing an image of Ireland that remains with many visitors.

Taxi representative bodies who are in regular contact with me are also of the view that the Bill before us does not contain appropriate encouragement to address the problem of the lack of an adequate supply of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Colleagues have already referred to this, specifically issues relating to the mobility allowance scheme and the motorised transport grants. We should examine these.

I welcome the provisions of the Bill in Part 8 relating to the advisory committee, although I note neither the Minister of State nor the NTA is bound by some of those advices. Having such a provision in permanent legislation is good and I commend that work. In his response to the debate I would be glad to hear of the Minister of State's plans for the future development and enhancement of the taxi industry. I commend the introduction of the new signage - what has been described as a slash on the side of vehicles - as it brings about a high-quality corporate image for the industry, as more drivers get their tests done. It is the start of a commendable corporate approach.

I have always been interested in whether there could be local county and city co-operatives or a national co-operative for taxi drivers. Could there be a proposal for drivers to consider an enhanced corporate approach? In general, I welcome the improvements for the industry overseen by the Minister and I hope some of the issues I have raised will be considered.

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