Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 25, after line 38, to insert the following:“(5) The Authority, in making regulations under this section, shall take into consideration the potential impact of any proposed regulation on the provision of services in rural areas and on rural dwellers.”.

The reason I have tabled this amendment is that every now and again we come across regulations that make a lot of sense in Dublin City but make very little sense in rural Ireland. In this regard, there is an issue in regard to wheelchair accessible taxis. The provision in the regulations is that a vehicle applying for a renewal of a licence may be no more than ten years old. The difficulty is that in rural Ireland a huge investment is required in the purchase of such vehicles and in having them adapted for wheelchair users. However, because there are not huge numbers of people using these accessible taxis, it takes far longer to get a return on that expense.

I know it is up to 15 years for existing vehicles, but this will be reduced to ten. We need more flexibility in dealing with the situation in rural Ireland such that when general regulations are drafted, not only for wheelchair accessible taxis, the regulator will not only consider the implications in the city centre of Dublin, Cork or Galway but also in provincial and rural towns. There is a feeling among taxi drivers that their voice is not being articulated. In my county taxi drivers hold a licence covering Roscommon and Galway, but we want wheelchair accessible taxis in Roscommon which is a very large rural county. It is the same with regard to other issues which arise. When regulations for the entire country are introduced, the regulator should be conscious of, and take into account, the fact that in some instances what is applicable in Dublin city centre is not necessarily applicable in rural Ireland. I ask for this to be taken into account and written into the legislation that these issues are weighed. In other words, regulations to be introduced should be rural proofed.

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