Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I will bring his comments back to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Just before I came down to take this matter, it was being addressed on "Prime Time" tonight so it is getting, I believe rightly, focus.

The regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector, is the responsibility of the NTA under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. The number of drivers licensed to operate in Dublin rose by 381 from a total of 14,572 at 31 December 2021 to 14,953 at the end of May 2022. In terms of licensed vehicles, the total number and breakdown by type of SPSV vehicles licensed in Dublin to the end of May 2022 has also shown a small increase of 32 since the beginning of the year, which is a positive sign that drivers are slowly returning to the industry.

Last week, the NTA approved an average increase of 12% on taxi fares from 1 September 2022, as proposed in the recent national maximum fares review, which will be the first increase on such fares since 2017. Increasing taxi fares, particularly the premium fare charged for journeys taken between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. or on Sundays and public holidays, is designed to encourage more taxi drivers to operate during that time, thus increasing availability to passengers nationally.

While the NTA has statutory responsibility for regulating the SPSV industry, taxi drivers are self-employed individuals and, as such, decide on their own business strategies within the regulatory framework. Additionally, SPSV operators choose the times at which they operate. The 2022 SPSV driver survey, conducted by the NTA earlier this year, shows that 93% of drivers are now working but only 29% currently undertake night work. That bears out the point the Deputy has been making. Some 30% of drivers reported that they would consider doing night work if the relevant fares were to increase. In recognition of this, the proposed fare increases have been weighted in favour of the premium rate. The increase in cents and euro for each taxi user per journey is not substantial; however, the cumulative impact will be significant for drivers, and the weighting in the increase has been designed to encourage more drivers to operate, particularly at night, to meet the renewed levels of demand that have arisen because of the increase in social activity and the reactivation of the night-time economy.

The Deputy will be aware that the Minister for Transport and the NTA introduced several supports during the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce the costs for licensed SPSVs to continue in the industry during this difficult period. These included several extensions of the maximum vehicle age on an emergency basis. The NTA also introduced a regulatory measure during Covid to allow licence holders to be inactive for 24 months - previously it was 12 - to allow them to remain attached to the industry with no associated costs during that uncertain time. It is hoped that a significant proportion of these licences will return now that demand for services is increasing.

The SPSV motor tax refund scheme was introduced as an additional financial support to assist the SPSV industry in its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Minister provided funding of €2 million to the scheme, which commenced on 1 September 2021, ensuring that SPSV licence holders could receive a reimbursement of €95 for their SPSV motor tax. The scheme will end on 31 August 2022.

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