Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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231. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide clarification to taxi drivers on whether their vehicles are included in the announcement for the mandatory wearing of face masks on public transport. [19804/20]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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289. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the mandatory wearing of face masks will be extended to passengers in taxis. [20958/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 222, 231 and 289 together.

Given the size of most taxis and other small public service vehicles (SPSVs), public health advice indicates that people travelling in such vehicles should wear face coverings.  Guidance on the safe use of face coverings is available on the gov.ie website.  Under existing regulatory provisions for the SPSV sector, drivers already have the right to refuse carriage to a passenger who does not comply with a "reasonable request" which, in the present circumstances, would include a request to wear a face covering. 

As the Deputy is aware, the wearing of face coverings on all mass transit forms of public transport has recently been made mandatory and my Department is now working with the Department of Health, in consultation with the National Transport Authority (NTA), about extending the mandatory approach to include the SPSV sector.  The Deputy will also be aware that the Government recently decided to make mandatory provision for wearing face coverings in retail settings too.

In the meantime, compliance by passengers with the public health advice in relation to face coverings is being carefully monitored and, given the current situation and the public health advice, I would strongly encourage all drivers and passengers to wear a face covering while in an SPSV.

In addition to face covering, vehicle cleaning is also important, and guidance on this has been available to the SPSV industry and on the NTA website for the last number of months.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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229. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to insurance companies seeking to have an engineer's report carried on the car of taxi drivers who have installed a Covid-19 protection screen; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the drivers have to pay for the report but the engineer is chosen by the insurance company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19796/20]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if specific return-to-work protocols were issued to taxi drivers. [20960/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 223, 229 and 291 together.

The National Transport Authority (NTA), as the statutory regulator for the SPSV sector under the Taxi Regulation Act 2013, has published information for the SPSV industry on COVID-19 which includes guidelines in relation to the installation of temporary dividing screens. This information is available on the NTA's website.

Given the role of the NTA as regulator, I have referred the Deputies' questions to the Authority for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within 10 working days.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, I am not involved in the day-to-day management and operational aspects of public transport - the individual operators are responsible for that, and in this case Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann

Accordingly, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.