Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raised this issue during Second Stage of the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 before the summer recess. The Minister of State should ask the NTA to give serious consideration to this issue because a large number of taxi and hackney drivers are operating in rural areas, but they are struggling to make a living in the current climate. Introducing another licensing brand in the sector will make it more difficult for them to survive. The rural transport model that will be used to roll out the rural hackney service could avail of existing taxi and hackney licences to provide services and that would ensure fair play for everyone. The Minister of State has acknowledged the difficulties in regulating the new licence if it is introduced. Given that there are only 19 regulators throughout the State, the chances are that hackney drivers will operate outside their areas and that they will not be policed. It is important in the context of fairness to give existing licence holders the opportunity to tender for the new licences and if they fail to pick up the slack, consideration should then be given to new licence holders. Will the Minister of State ask the NTA to deal with that matter?

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