John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 257: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he proposes to roll out his recently announced local area hackney licence scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7302/12]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The local area hackney licence is one of a range of actions proposed in the Taxi Regulation Review Report which has been approved by Government and was published last month. The full Report is available on my Department's website. The proposal for a local hackney licence aims to facilitate the a low cost entry to the hackney market for transport provision in rural area that, otherwise, would be unlikely to have such services.

The regulation of the taxi industry is a matter in the first instance for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2003. The NTA is the lead agency with responsibility for implementation of the recommendations of the Taxi Regulation Review Report, including the proposal for a local area hackney licence.

I have arranged for your question to be forwarded to the NTA for a direct response. If you do not receive a response within ten working days, please notify my private office.