Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will direct the Commission for Taxi Regulation to defer the implementation of its action plan, Driving Forward, in view of the apparent lack of consultation with all sectors of the taxi industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11493/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I have no proposals to issue such a policy direction to the Commission for Taxi Regulation. The Commission for Taxi Regulation is the independent body responsible for the development and maintenance of a new regulatory framework for the control and operation of small public service vehicles, including taxis, and their drivers, under the Taxi Regulation Act 2003.

In 2005, the commission initiated a national review to assess the extent and quality of services currently provided by small public service vehicles and subsequently published the document, Roadmap — Towards a new national code of regulation for taxis, hackneys and limousines in Ireland, which sets out the areas where change is required along with the commission's proposed solutions. Submissions were invited on the roadmap by 26 September 2005, following which the preparation of new regulations commenced. The commission has also taken over the power to declare or alter taximeter areas and to fix maximum taxi fares from local authorities and invited submissions on consultation paper No. 3, Taximeter Areas and Taxi Fares, by 19 December 2005.

I understand that the commission, prior to making its recent determination on taxi fares and other related taxi matters, received over 500 submissions as part of the various consultation processes. In addition, numerous meetings took place with a broad range of stakeholders and interested parties, including the advisory council to the Commission for Taxi Regulation.