Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the excessive hours being worked by taxi drivers to earn a sufficient income. [13631/09]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Transport his views on the recent Goodbody economic review of the taxi industry; the measures he is considering to address the problems in the taxi sector including market saturation, poor monitoring and enforcement of high quality standards, double jobbing and related health and safety issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13680/09]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Transport the measures he proposes to introduce to address the deficit of wheelchair accessible taxis in the national taxi fleet in view of the fact that an association (details supplied) recently told the Joint Committee on Transport that approximately 6% of the national taxi fleet are wheelchair accessible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13681/09]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will address the concerns of those within the taxi industry. [13632/09]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 30, 42 and 49 together.

Under the Taxi Regulation Act enacted by the Oireachtas in 2003, the taxi industry is regulated by the Commission for Taxi Regulation which is an independent body responsible for the regulation of the taxi industry and many of the issues raised in these questions relate to the functions of the Commission. The economic review of the small public service vehicle industry published recently by the Commission for Taxi Regulation contains a wide range of detailed data on taxi, hackney and limousine services, including data on hours worked, demand for and supply of services, double jobbing, earnings, and impact of liberalisation.

The review confirms that there has been a large increase in the demand for taxi services with approximately 100 million trips last year — an increase of 25% since 2005, though I note from recent statistics that the number of applicants applying for taxi licences has dropped dramatically in recent months. The review also indicates that, as a result of the increased supply of vehicles, drivers are operating in a more competitive environment and as a result drivers are working longer hours with an average of 52 hours per week and that average earnings have dropped slightly. As part of the public consultation process on the Goodbody Review, the Commission is seeking views on the recommendation about exploring methods for recording hours worked in order to deal with this issue and the related issues of safety.

In relation to wheelchair accessible taxis, the percentage of the whole taxi fleet that was wheelchair accessible was 7.5% in 2008. While this is a reduction from the percentage of the fleet that was wheelchair accessible pre-liberalisation, the actual number of wheelchair accessible taxis has actually increased, though not at the same rate as the overall expansion of the fleet. There were 1,600 licensed wheelchair accessible taxis in 2008 — up from 1,246 in 2005. The Commission has submitted proposals for a subsidy scheme to assist in the purchase of wheelchair accessible taxis and the issue is under consideration in my Department in the context of the overall budgetary situation, as are alternative means of ensuring accessible taxis.

Overall the review concludes that liberalisation has resulted in significant benefits to the consumer in terms of more and better services and reduced waiting times and that the present regime should be maintained but that the focus be on strengthening quality standards and enforcement. The Commission has now launched a public consultation process based on the review. The Commission will also be engaging with the Advisory Council to the Commission which has as its duty to advise the Commission and the Minister on general taxi matters. It is important that all stakeholders in the industry make their views known to the Commission by 4 May 2009. I will then consider the outcome of this process, the views of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, the views of the official representatives of the taxi industry, consumers and consumer interest groups insofar as they relate to my statutory responsibilities.