Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The whole background to this is that licence holders did achieve regulatory capture of the Department and successfully pleaded that they could not make money in an open market. That is why we are trying to close it off. It is in every line of the taxi review group report. The taxi representatives won the debate that day but they did not win it with me. People insisted that we must control new entrants because incumbents could not make any money, which was a factor in the framing of the Bill. This approach succeeded, and it is how SI 250 of 2010 came into place.

The troika has commented on Ireland's tradition of interest groups controlling matters. They certainly controlled this one through two blockades at the airports and occupation of the regulator's office. These actions worked a treat because the Government caved in and gave them this Bill. Everyone knows that. For the sake of the country, we should include a section, such as the amendment proposes, for every sector that comes in here looking for special treatment. I thank the IMF for giving us the formula we used. That special pleading and special interest groups, not to mention the banks that walked out with €64 billion, always get their way is part of what brought this country onto the rocks. We are trying to give some legal protection to society at large and to say that moan-ins in Departments looking for special treatment, bans on new entrants and bans on satnavs must be balanced with the consumer interest. Some of the responsibility when people are no longer economically viable rests with the people concerned. Some new entrants will also make mistakes. The State cannot guarantee any set of self-employed people a living. The numbers in the Goodbody report show it did not happen but the taxi people have always resented new entrants. Hence, the blockade of airports, the occupation of buildings and the High Court cases to have them removed. That how is how the legislation came about but we must have measures to protect the consumer.