Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I will get him a specific answer from the Minister for Transport on this but the Government is very eager to take steps to increase the number of taxis and hackneys available nationally, particularly in rural areas. For a variety of reasons, these steps have not yielded the numbers so further actions are planned and some are under way. I will write to the Deputy in that regard but the Minister for Transport has recently written to the advisory committee on taxis and hackneys to request its consideration of how taxi availability can be assessed and to make recommendations on relevant data. A driver recruitment campaign ran on national radio and digital platforms and applicants for new vehicle licences can apply for funding under a variety of schemes. I will get a specific update for the Deputy on the regulation.

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