Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 23, subsection (1)(i), line 8, to delete ?conduct,? and substitute ?conduct and?.

The purpose of the amendment is to provide for the flexibility required in the taxi industry. It is unduly restrictive to introduce laws about the deportment and dress of drivers. What action will be taken if it is a warm day and a taxi driver is wearing a t-shirt or football shirt? This provision is unnecessary given the low level of consumer complaints in the taxi industry. I understand approximately 600 complaints have been made in respect of 80 million journeys whereas, as we noted during our previous debate, many more complaints are made to the Ombudsman about the conduct of public servants in general. We must recognise that part-time taxi drivers and those who travel into other areas are providing a flexible transport service. This has generated benefits worth ¤780 million and we must be careful not to erode them. The incumbents will try to create obstacles for those they do not want in the industry and some of these obstacles strike me as unnecessary. While the provision is unnecessarily intrusive, I do not propose to press the amendment.