Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I cannot accept these amendments. Amendments Nos. 67 and 68 are unnecessary and, therefore, not appropriate inclusions in the text of the Bill. Section 58 provides for balanced representation on the advisory committee, including representation of consumers, business and tourism. The Competition Authority is, in fact, represented on the committee. It is also a function of the authority, under section 18, to promote competition in the industry. Furthermore, it is an express requirement under section 18(3) that the authority be independent. The subsection states: "Subject to any policy direction under section 26 of the Act of 2008, the Authority shall be independent in the exercise of its functions under this Act". This embraces the regulatory capture issue raised by Senator Barrett.

As for amendment No. 69, as I stated previously on Committee Stage, an express objective of the National Transport Authority as regulator in carrying out its functions in the licensing and regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector is to encourage and promote competition in services offered by SPSVs. The taxi regulation review report, in recommending the future approach to taxi regulation, supports qualitative improvements in industry standards, as well as enforcement of the regulations. These matters are the focus of the Bill. The courts have already dealt with the issue of quantitative restrictions and there is no proposal in the Bill for the imposition of such restrictions. I acknowledge that we have been up and down this road a number of times. It is an express function of the authority, under section 18, to pursue the continued development of a qualitative licensing system.