James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 1026: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider the impact of deregulation of the taxi sector on a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27289/12]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The regulation of the taxi industry, including issues pertaining to the transfer of vehicle licences, is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009.

As set out in the Taxi Regulation Review Report 2011, it was considered by the review group that it was necessary to move away from a system whereby a licence will have value in itself - a licence should determine a person's suitability to carry out a function and it should not have monetary value or be traded on the open market. Action 14 of the review report proposes the introduction of a prohibition on the transferability of taxi vehicle licences such that all taxi vehicle licences will be unique to the person to whom the licence has been issued and cannot be transferred or sold to another individual.

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