Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to draw the House's attention to subsection (3), which states: "The Minister may make an order specifying a date from which the Garda Síochána shall cease to be the licensing authority to grant licences to drive small public service vehicles for the purposes of this Act." To give the Minister his due and if I understand correctly, he does not intend to invoke this subsection yet. However, if the Government's case is that this industry has more than its share of criminality, a suggestion that I disputed when we last debated this Bill, I cannot think of a better set of people to deal with it than gardaí. I would be reluctant to remove this authority from the Garda to the National Transport Authority, NTA. If one is concerned about crime, gardaí are the people who know about it.