Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Senator Flynn. She has informed us that she is due to have a child in September and I, therefore, hope that we do not see here in the autumn. Every mother and woman is entitled to maternity leave and I hope to see her when she comes back from maternity leave as opposed to coming straight back in the autumn time.

I raise the issue of the taxi industry and the very bad effect Covid-19 has had on that industry. Taxi drivers are coming to this building next Thursday and they have a number of key points to raise. First, they want a financial plan and support to be put in place for them. Many taxi drivers have said that they have had a very significant drop in income. Business is down and the tourism industry on which they were hugely reliant is down and yet no financial plan has been put in place for taxi drivers unlike other industries that have seen such support.

Taxi drivers are also calling for access to bus corridors, which is a very simple demand, a moratorium on the issuing of licences and to have the vehicle restrictions extended from ten to 15 years. We have treated taxi drivers in this country abominably, particularly when it has come to Covid-19. They have driven people to hospitals and to Covid-19 tests and they have collected people's prescriptions for them. They have provided a vital public service, as front-line workers, for many people around this country during the course of the pandemic.

Drivers are also at great risk of contracting Covid-19 and they received a paltry €1,000 grant to bring their vehicles up to standard.To avail of that grant, they had to give up the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. When people were out of business and out of work, that was a huge ask of them. I ask that we have a debate in this House on saving the taxi industry and giving taxi drivers a decent standard of living and wage for what they do and the public service they provide.