Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy that I as Minister, and the National Transport Authority, NTA, as the statutory taxi regulator, are committed to ensuring a sustainable and viable taxi sector. That commitment is evidenced by the supports introduced in recent years to assist the sector as it dealt with, and now recovers from, the Covid-19 pandemic. These supports include the electric small public service vehicles, eSPSV, grant scheme to which I allocated €15 million this year and which supports drivers in their transition to zero- or low-emission vehicles. The eSPSV business loan provided by Microfinance Ireland is also there to support those SPSV owners accessing the eSPSV grant scheme who are unable to secure finance from financial institutions. The Government's generally applicable reduction in fuel-related duties introduced this year has also helped.

The NTA's previous extensions of the maximum permissible age for vehicles ensured no operator exited the industry simply because of the need to replace a vehicle. The NTA launched a driver recruitment campaign this summer to promote the sector as a place of employment for people. The NTA recently announced new fares, which are weighted in favour of those drivers working at unsocial hours, late at night and on bank holidays. In addition, this week the NTA announced a public consultation on a further extension to the maximum permissible age of vehicles in recognition of the difficulties currently being experienced by operators in sourcing new vehicles.

Finally, the transfer of licences is currently prohibited under the legislation. However, there are exceptions provided in the case of the death of a licence holder and that licence holder has previously nominated another individual to operate the licence. I know the issue of transferability was a topic of discussion recently at the advisory committee on SPSVs and I understand the committee intends to consider the issue further.

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