Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I compliment former Minister of State, Bobby Molloy. He took on vested interests, which responded by launching a savage attack on him in his constituency and throughout the country. I wish the former Deputy well. He took a courageous stand. The action he took was in response to a High Court ruling at that time. I welcome this opportunity to compliment Bobby Molloy for the difficult decisions he took in his capacity as Minister of State at the then Department of the Environment and Local Government. They were thankless decisions as far as he was concerned. He was targeted in his own constituency. As it happened, that was not his reason for standing down at the last general election. If he had gone before the electorate, he would have succeeded because the people of Galway appreciated the quality of service which Bobby Molloy provided.

With regard to categories of people that are not qualified to hold a licence, it is frightening that a convicted criminal can get a taxi licence. The explanatory memorandum to the Bill includes a list of ineligible categories, such as those engaged in drug trafficking, money laundering and so on. It states that "In the case the case of being convicted summarily, where a fine only is imposed by the court, the person is disqualified for a period of 12 months." A person convicted of any of those crimes should not be entitled to hold a licence for such a very responsible position, which involves dealing with young people, women, men and tourists. This section should be tightened up on Committee Stage or subsequently. There is no case to be made for a convicted criminal to have a licence to drive a taxi or hackney.

In general, there has been a marked improvement and availability with regard to taxis and hackneys throughout the country. In my county, Roscommon, the quality of the hackney service is excellent. As far as I know, there is no taxi service, certainly not in Roscommon town. There should be a rationalisation process with regard to hackneys and taxis; the distinction between the two categories of vehicle is nonsensical. Perhaps, when the commission is up and running, it will establish one consistent type of car for the carriage of people.

With regard to facilities for wheelchair users, taxi men and women are generally very helpful. I am aware of a hackney driver in Roscommon who wishes to convert his vehicle to make it wheelchair friendly but who is having great difficulty in getting any support from any of the relevant institutions, Leader programmes or partnership groups. Support should be available to facilitate conversion of vehicles to allow for the carriage of wheelchair users.

I wish to refer to a provision in the Bill which is also common to other recent legislation. It states: