Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 10, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following subsection:"(2) The Authority may not make regulations which reintroduce quantity licensing of small public service vehicles.".

There are many paragraphs, extending to the letter M in subsection 2 and a number of subsections on what the NTA intends to do about licensing and so on. I want to call a halt to this direction because this is not to be the reintroduction of quantity licensing. We saw that in the case of the disabled. There was a court decision that we cannot have quantitative licensing in this sector. If we eventually add on that everybody who enters the industry must have two-page D categories in terms of taxi driving and so on, we will effectively keep new entrants out of the industry. I want an undertaking from the Minister of State that it is not his policy to reintroduce quantity licensing because that has been disallowed by the courts on at least four occasions. That is the purpose of my amendment. It is also a warning to the National Transport Authority not to go down that road because I believe its natural inclination is to do that, as it does in all the other sectors for which it has responsibility. It does not understand the way markets operate and I want to make sure that the opinion of this House is communicated to it in that we support the High Court decision that people are allowed to enter this sector. Some people may not want to use their services but they carry about 80 million passengers a year and are far more important to the public transport system than buses or trains. It is not up to a quango to make life more difficult for people who want to enter an industry which added 20,000 jobs since it was deregulated. I want to make sure of that because the natural inclination of bureaucracies is to end up with a situation where new entrants, vital for the efficiency of the sector, will effectively be banned by red tape.