Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I will not be opposing the amendments in this group. However, where they are not issued in sufficient quantities, licences acquire a value. As the Minister of State is aware, licences are worth $1 million in New York and $400,000 in Boston. I understand that the former President and Prime Minister of France, Mr. Jacques Chirac, tried and failed to deregulate the taxi industry in Paris. Taxi people are pretty good at achieving regulatory capture over the authorities. Once this occurs, licences obtain a value. While I appreciate the Minister of State's efforts to ensure that they should not have such a value, I am of the view that the solution to this problem would be to reconsider the statutory instrument introduced in 2010. Professor Paul Gorecki and others have indicated that the latter has had a substantial impact in the context of establishing barriers to new entry.

I share the Minister of State's concerns that licences should not have value. Much of the wisdom of Members and that of the officials from the Department will have to be dedicated to ensuring that they will not acquire value. Licences were worth €130,000 in the past and the courts, quite rightly, ruled against that. I wish the Minister of State success in ensuring that licences will not acquire value. I am concerned that once they become scarce, lawyers will start selling people pens and licences. The pen will be worth €129,000 and the licence will be worth the balance. Lawyers are pretty good at doing that. I commend the Minister of State on attempting to reduce the size of the market in this regard to the greatest degree possible.