Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 522: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the names of the representative taxi bodies which consented to an increase in the verification fee for taxi meters from €32 to €75, excluding VAT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1347/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The legal metrology service of the National Standards Authority of Ireland implements the provisions of the Metrology Acts 1980 to 1998. One of the objectives of the legislation is to ensure fair trade and consumer protection by checking the accuracy of measuring instruments used in trade throughout the economy. The law imposes obligations on traders to ensure that the measuring instruments they use in trade are of an approved type and have been verified by the legal metrology service.

Section 4 of the Metrology Act 1996, as amended, provides that the National Standards Authority of Ireland may, with the consent of the Minister, charge fees for verification services, inter alia. When it considered the basis for a fee increase recently, the board of the authority was of the view that the fee set should be such as to recover fully the costs associated with the verification process. To enable full cost recovery, the board proposed an increase in the verification fee for taxi meters from €32 to €75, excluding VAT. Ministerial consent was granted for the increase on 22 November 2004, following previous increases in 1997 and 2002.