Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister of State is present on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so I thank him for that. Since I was elected to this House in 2020, taxi operators have consistently outlined to me that their livelihoods are in serious trouble due to illegal operators. I have tabled many parliamentary questions to the Minister over the past couple of years concerning the ability of the National Transport Authority, NTA, to tackle the problem. The responses I have received have done little to convince me that the Minister and Minister of State responsible have any interest in solving what is going on here. I would say that, only for the register of operators themselves, no one else seems to be taking anything seriously. I am aware that neither Minister is available to respond this evening so I will instead take this opportunity to highlight this problem in anticipation that it will be fed back to the Department and that they will ultimately engage with the NTA, An Garda Síochána, and illegal taxi operators about this important matter that is affecting livelihoods in the sector and their future employment prospects.

Operators of small public service vehicles, SPSVs, in County Tipperary and throughout the country, as well as enforcement officials, have said that illegal operators are rampant across the country. They are and the NTA enforcers have said similar. Effective enforcement alongside consequences that act as a deterrent are sadly lacking in the overall scheme because effective enforcement, along with the consequences, are more or less zero. There were 54 cases over the past couple of years, which is two per county. Anybody with any grasp of the situation will see that those small figures are pure stupid. An Garda Síochána and the NTA do not have the resources to catch all the illegal operators given the process that is currently involved in gathering the evidence that is needed to satisfy the burden of proof that an individual is operating for hire or reward. Should an illegal operator be prosecuted they may receive a fine of a few hundred euro and according to what I hear regularly, as I am quite sure the Minister does, they just get back into the driving seat and go back out that night to do the exact same thing again.

One legal operator whom I know and who appeared before the transport committee last year spoke of how at the time at least 15 illegal operators were known within a 30-mile radius in one region. There were four prosecutions in the previous six months and the four people who were prosecuted were back out operating the following night. Is the Department satisfied that the options open to the gardaí and the NTA to tackle the problem are significant and effective? There is concern that they are not, How can someone be prosecuted for operating an entirely unlicensed SPSV and be able to simply go back out on the road if they have the gall to do so? Why are insurance companies not contacted about this because we must remember that anybody who employs the services of an unregistered operator will not be covered by insurance should the vehicle be involved in an incident. How come that after being prosecuted they can get right back into the car and carry on as normal? If the consequences for acting illegally do not act as a deterrent, they will not deter others from the practice. It is as simple as that. Both the Garda and the NTA have a significant role to play here but when it comes to gardaí and the resources and time they are given to carry out an operation, they may as well stay at home for what they are getting.

The problem appears to be that the Department and the NTA seem to be working under the assumption that the way the issue has been dealt with for numerous years is working and that no more needs to be done. That is clearly not the case. In addition to the questions I posed earlier, is the Department aware of the number of calls coming into the NTA? Is it also aware of the level of dissatisfaction in the sector about how the issue is being dealt with? Is the Department itself exploring any other measures to effectively deal with, and deter, illegal operators and to protect the livelihoods of operators?

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