Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I welcome this Bill to the Seanad. This is the second Bill that the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, has brought to the Seanad. As he stated, he learned about politics in this Chamber and he likes to introduce legislation in this House.

This Bill in entitled Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 and people might question the purpose of such a Bill. It is not concerned about regulating taxis driving around the streets of any major urban centre but there are too many taxis in Dublin at the weekend. The taxis are ignoring the taxi ranks and are a danger to the public. I welcome some parts of the Bill in relation to CCTV. The Bill will ensure the public will have confidence in the person driving their taxi. The need for reform is pressing and it has been obvious for some time that the decision by the former Government to deregulate the taxi industry put the industry into mayhem, as did so many of the other reforms it had introduced. It was a job half done. It failed to meet the needs of both taxi drivers and the public.

Senator O'Sullivan mentioned that he was taking a taxi but the driver did not know the location of O'Connell Bridge. I think that resulted from the deregulation of the taxi industry, because there was a two-year window in which people were granted a taxi licence without having done the knowledge test. I believe the knowledge test that is now in place is very severe and there is a 85% failure rate. That is a good thing.

Some years ago, a pub or a taxi licence commanded a good price on the market. It was a trend some years ago to borrow money to buy a taxi plate as a means of generating an income. In 2000, with the deregulation of the taxi industry, anybody could have a licence and many people who had invested in a taxi plate lost money. There was a compensation scheme but as Indecon indicated, there is a 13% to 22% over-supply of taxis in the country. That does not apply to rural Ireland.

In the course of his address, the Minister of State summed up what the Bill is about. He stated, "Drivers are suffering from unfair competition from unscrupulous operators while consumers have not felt safe or had confidence in the standards of professionalism in the taxi sector. This Bill will help to bring about change." I think that sums up the Bill.

I commend Deputy Kelly for dealing with this important area. Public safety must be the first priority. In this regard I welcome the Bill's provisions regarding mandatory disqualification from holding a licence on conviction for certain offences. The offences are listed in the Bill and I presume they will be debated on Committee Stage. There is a provision for the refusal of a licence, having regard to the suitability of a person to hold a licence following convictions for relevant offences or breaches of taxi regulations, and specifically the regulatory offences in the Bill that qualify as a demerit offences, and the specification of the conditions of demerit scheme leading to disqualification for holding a licence.

Will the Minister of State clarify when the demerits apply in relation to the taxi licence? A taxi driver may have a private vehicle. Do the penalty points awarded to a taxi driver in his or her private vehicle form part of the penalty points of the taxi?

I wish to elaborate on the point made by Senator O'Sullivan on the control of taxi ranks. The authorised officers will have the ability to inspect and examine the roadworthiness of SPV vehicles. That is a very welcome move. We all recall the "Prime Time" investigation into the taxi sector in Ireland which showed very disturbing evidence of inferior vehicles being used as taxis and the alleged abuse of the licensing system. I can give an example. I had a four year old car in the 1990s which was rear-ended and was written off by the insurance company. Within six months it was back on the road as a taxi in Kilkenny. It is very important that the regulations are implemented.

This is very necessary legislation. It has been necessary for some time and this area was sorely neglected by the previous Government. I believe that people are entitled to feel safe and secure in the knowledge that checks and balances are in place to protect their safety when they travel by taxi. This is crucial for the Government and I welcome the Minister of State's initiative in these areas.

The major stakeholders in the taxi review group would have been the taxi drivers. In general, taxi drivers have been positive on some of the proposed changes, especially in regard to tighter enforcement to deal with non-compliant operators. They have concerns regarding the new demerits systems and a worry that the enforcement procedures for non-compliant operators will be too lax.

Indecon found that in 2008 people took over 100 million trips in taxis. That has decreased to between 60 million to 70 million trips, in other words there is an over-supply. There will be a problem if people do not leave the industry because of the lack of employment prospects. Some people had acquired multiple licence plates and hired them out at the weekends to other operators. The regulation in relation to this is very hard to enforce.

Have these people a right to drive with this licence? I refer to Senator O'Sullivan's point about the authorised officers. The Garda Síochána has enough to do at the weekends in major urban centres in dealing with breaches of the peace. I do not mean they should not stop taxis. I suggest that extra powers be devolved to the NTA and its authorised officers to allow them to stop taxis to ensure the licence is in order and that those driving taxis have the correct documentation. I suggest the authorised officers be given the power to seize vehicles if the details are not correct. I question whether some of those driving taxis are tax-compliant and are in possession of a C2 certificate. For example, what is to stop me hiring a taxi from Senator Ned O'Sullivan by using another name?

A taxi plate which has not been used for one year will be rendered defunct. This proposal is welcome because the period of time was previously five years. The review group stated that the Garda Síochána increased its enforcement of the Taxi Regulator rules. However, the gardaí have enough work at the weekends, in my view.

One matter I wish to bring to the Minister of State's attention is taxi services in rural areas. Dublin and the major urban centres are a very different matter because they have plenty of taxis. However, the need for taxi services in rural areas was highlighted this week, albeit in a ludicrous suggestion. I am not making a Kerry joke or having a go at Senator O'Sullivan. We cannot condone the fact that the county council passed a motion to break the law. The Minister of State is well acquainted with the issue of rural transport, the provision of Ring a Link buses and services in country areas. I have highlighted this matter in the House on many occasions. I ask the Minister of State to consider a scheme for subsidising rural taxis or some form of tax incentive for the operation of such a service. Isolation is a significant problem in rural areas. I am not advising that people go out on drinking binges but for many people in rural Ireland the local pub is the only social outlet. The population may not be sufficient to support a full-time taxi service so I suggest a tax incentive for taxi operators in rural areas. This is a role for the Government. The local bus services such as Ring a Link can help rural dwellers to access the local town. This is particularly the case for older people. There is also scope for a night service. While abuse of alcohol is not to be condoned, many people in rural Ireland are moderate drinkers who use the pub as a social hub to meet their neighbours. There is nothing wrong with that. The Minister of State lives in a rural part of Ireland, as do I. I ask the Government to explore the capacity of a rural transport network operating in the evenings. I ask that such a scheme be begun on a pilot basis. I acknowledge the important work being done by the Minister of State in consolidating the various strands of transport funded by the Government. I ask him to consider this proposal in this context. I welcome this legislation and I wish the Minister of State well in steering the Bill through the Oireachtas.