Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 15, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following:

“(c) where their other occupation is deemed to be full-time, will not be granted a licence to drive SPSV.”.

I move this amendment on behalf of Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan.

I note the Minister of State's Bill requires that those requesting a licence must give notice if they have other employment. I have spoken to representatives of taxi drivers and of the industry and they would like the legislation to go further. Their view is that full-time taxi drivers who are barely scraping a living as it is in a very difficult environment are then faced with a flood of people who are cherry-picking the good work at the weekend and at peak times.

That is really unfair on people whose sole livelihood is derived from driving a taxi, as opposed to people who supplement incomes by cherry-picking good work. These people are looking for a stipulation that where somebody has another full-time job, the person should not receive a taxi licence. They have asked me to press the amendment and although I do not know if the Minister of State has any comment on it, these people see it as a way to deal with the pretty untenable position faced by many.

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