Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 296: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the substantial increase in taxi seals for taxi owners in the past year; his views on same; and if he has been in contact with the relevant Department on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5402/05]

Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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The legal metrology service of the National Standards Authority of Ireland operates under the aegis of my Department and 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, inter alia, verification services. When considering the basis for a fee increase in the latter part of 2004, the board of the authority was of the view that the fee set should be such as to fully recover the costs associated with the verification process. To enable full cost recovery, the board proposed an increase in the verification fee for taximeters from €32 to €75, excluding VAT, and ministerial consent was granted for this increase.

The fee increase was advertised in the national press on 13 November 2004 and came into effect on 22 November 2004. The rate reflects the fact that the provision of these services to the taxi industry and the application of metrology law is both a personnel and equipment intensive operation.