Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will briefly raise a few issues. I support the comments of previous speakers about bringing in more control. During race week in Galway I got a taxi from town that had come from Sligo; the driver was going to work in Galway that evening before heading back to Sligo, which is an example of unfair work practices. I will raise another matter that occurred in Galway a while back, and I had raised it with the Minister of State's predecessor, the Garda Síochána and the taxi regulator. With this case, a certain individual purchased ten cars and registered them as taxis, complete with plates and licences. He paid the first instalment of his insurance premium on the ten cars and registered in a house on the east side of Galway city. The cars and drivers were put on the road for 24 hours a day, and the insurance company tried to contact the individual because after two months he stopped paying his insurance premium. However, he was no longer at his registered address. The person is a non-national but I am not being racist. I was questioned by gardaí when I raised the matter and a complaint was lodged against the person, so I am very familiar with the case. These cars remained on the road and the insurance certificate was put on the windscreen despite the car not being insured. In fairness to the taxi regulator, when I raised the matter it tried to cordon off the city to see if the people involved in the operation could be caught. From what I can gather, that was not possible.

That is one issue but a young family with a husband, wife and three kids could get into one of those uninsured cars. What would happen if there was an accident? Perhaps something should be tightened up or controls could be put in place. Maybe there are provisions in that area in the Bill. We must ensure that the vast majority of people driving taxis are law-abiding citizens. I know another case of a young lady visiting Galway who did not know the city. When she got in a taxi to go to an establishment in Oranmore, the taxi driver said he had never heard of it. A taxi run from Galway city to Oranmore is approximately €10 or €15 but this woman was charged €56. That is what is going on in certain cases.

Perhaps if people are abusing the system, the issues could be tidied up.

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