Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 341: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, further to Parliamentary Question No. 436 of 24 May 2011, his plans for the €20 million surplus that has been collected from the taxi industry in licence and renewal fees over previous years; in view of the fact that under section 11 and provisions of section 50, Part 2(b) of the Taxi Regulation Act, funds may be made available to invest in taxi-related infrastructure through local authorities, if he will consider this course of action; if the surplus continues, if he will consider returning some of these fees to the industry as provided for in section 50, part 4; if he has come to an agreement with the Department of Finance or if he will contemplate a reduction in fees to improve competitiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14289/11]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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With effect from 1 January 2011, the former Commission for Taxi Regulation (CTR) was subsumed into the National Transport Authority (NTA) under section 36 of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. The NTA is funded from an exchequer grant and taxi licence fees.

Section 50 (2) of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, prescribes that income from taxi licence fees received by the NTA shall be applied for the purpose of meeting the expenses of the NTA and, where appropriate, providing financial assistance to local authorities to support the development or provision of infrastructure to facilitate and support the operation of Small Public Service Vehicles (SPSV).

The use of income generated by taxi licence fees that is surplus to the income necessary to meet the expenses of the NTA and any support for the provision of infrastructure is a matter for the NTA. It is a matter for the NTA to set fees for SPSV licences in accordance with the 2003 Act. However given the expenses of the NTA and the very severe constraints on Exchequer funding, I do not consider returning or reducing licence fees to be a realistic prospect in current circumstances.