Seanad debates

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Committee Stage

 

5:10 pm

Photo of Sean BarrettSean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is being disingenuous. He is erecting a huge barrier to new entrants by requiring that they must have a wheelchair accessible vehicle. He and his officials know that. It is a de facto barrier to entry which the High Court told the Department not to do. That is a serious step. I will vote against the measure. We should not be asked to undermine High Court decisions. The Minister of State knows it is a barrier to entry. His officials should know that also. It is massively more expensive to put most of the burden of catering for wheelchairs on new entrants rather than incumbents. It is discrimination. The manner in which the officials have operated is cynical. As they could not say they would ban new entrants outright they just required them to take on the charitable cause which we all share of providing for disabled people. That is a barrier to entry.

In response to the question by my good friend, Senator Conway, on why Nassau Street is awash with taxis on Saturdays, it is because 85% of business takes place between Thursday and Saturday.

Why do some counties have more taxis than others? Presumably that is related to demand but when we opened up the market, the increase in taxi numbers was far greater outside Dublin so the situation beforehand must have been really confined in country areas. That is why taxi drivers want to restore the situation where the taxi licence would again be worth ยค100,000, and it would be wrong of the Government to assist in that in any way.

We are before the troika, trying to make the sheltered sectors of this economy competitive, and invariably a Department is interfering to reduce competition. What is next? Will we tell people they cannot open a new shop because there is a surplus of shops? This is a business for the self-employed that people have entered and left. Professor Gorecki believes the adjustment is substantially complete so we do not need the NTA or the Department putting up barriers to new entrants, particularly when they have been asked not to do so in a decision of the High Court. This is an illegal request being made in the Houses by the Minister of State and Department. I will not be withdrawing this amendment.

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