Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is an important issue. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, when he brought in this scheme he did so to deal with the defects. The Deputy is correct in that there are many rural areas that do not have a taxi service. If it was commercially viable people would provide the service. There has to be a balance. I am going to ask my officials and will also myself engage with the NTA. I will also ask that the points raised by the Deputy be brought to the attention of the NTA. There have been 42 applications yet only seven licenses been offered. The scheme is at an early stage and there are teething problems, nevertheless I will ask the NTA to have a look at it again. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I will also negotiate to see if we can try and support and make sure that the areas that need licenses get them.

What we do not want - the Deputy can understand this - is to displace people who are there. It is difficult enough for taxi people, particularly in rural Ireland. They are finding it hard enough to make a living. There are many people finding it difficult to make a living. What we need is balance. I will ask the NTA to look at this again and to take the Deputy's concerns into account. I will send on this report from the Dáil today to the NTA and will ask it to have a look at this again. The scheme was intended to serve areas that were not getting the required service. What we do not want is an over-regulation of the scheme, but we also do not want to make it easy and put other people out of business. There has to be a balance and we are trying to strike the balance. It is important that this scheme be looked at again and I will ask them to do that.

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