Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the efforts he has made to encourage wheelchair accessible taxi services and his views on prioritising companies with high numbers of wheelchair accessible vehicles for public and departmental contracts. [36791/14]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act, 2013, including the promotion of access to and the availability and affordability of SPSVs by persons with disabilities.

In this regard a number of initiatives have been and are being taken to address the lack of availability of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs). Earlier this year regulations were introduced which permit smaller and less expensive WAVs to operate, and arrangements were put in place to permit holders of standard taxi licences to exchange those licences for wheelchair accessible taxi licences and avail of a longer operating age.

Furthermore, a €1 million grant scheme is currently being administered by the NTA to support the wider availability of WAVs. Under the scheme grants of up to €10,000 are available for the purchase or conversion of a new WAV, with a sliding scale of grant amounts for older cars. Further details of the scheme and its conditions are available on the NTA's website .

The Department is committed to seeking to ensure that public transport, including taxis, is accessible to persons with disabilities, and improvements to taxi accessibility are being progressed in line with the Department's Sectoral Plan - Transport Access for All - under the Disability Act 2005.

In relation to the use of companies with high levels of WAVs for public and Departmental contracts, this is a wider public procurement issue that goes beyond the remit of the NTA. However, I will keep under review, in consultation with the NTA whether initiatives such as this may be necessary or appropriate to seek to increase the proportion of WAVs in the fleet.