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

The regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, industry is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority, under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 as amended by the Public Transport Act 2016. As Minister, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of the industry.

While transport service provision has improved in both rural and urban areas, it is recognised that public bus transport cannot meet the travel demands of many people in rural Ireland. Taxis and hackneys therefore have an important role to play in meeting travel demand in rural areas. The NTA issues local area hackney licences where applicants can show that there is a need for this part-time service and that it does not displace or replace current SPSV providers. Both driver and vehicle regulatory requirements and costs pertaining to LAH licences are lower than those under the standard hackney regime. A resident of the area where the LAH licence is sought is not required to undertake the industry knowledge or area knowledge tests that normally apply to those seeking SPSV driver licences. LAH drivers must be licensed and their vehicles must be licensed and insured. There are 21 licensed LAH drivers and 25 licensed LAH vehicles active nationwide as of 31 May 2024.

The LAH pilot scheme launched by the NTA in January 2023 was a €6,000 grant-aided initiative to support rural transport needs where existing transport services were found to be lacking. A local area hackney may only pick up passengers within a designated area of approximately 10 km from a chosen point and may not pick up a new fare at a drop-off point or any other point outside its designated area. Despite significant work by the NTA, only two operators were licensed under the pilot, which ended in May this year. The NTA is currently reviewing the outcome.

Separately, the NTA is currently procuring a digital platform for access to rural open public transport, the smart DRT pilot, as part of Connecting Ireland. This platform is expected to both improve people’s access to open public transport and provide automated and optimised bus service routing and scheduling in rural areas.

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