Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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254. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on making supports available to taxi drivers given the role they have played throughout the pandemic and the impact the pandemic has had upon their livelihoods; his views on suggestions (details supplied); if he plans to make a rescue package of supports available to the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22235/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I recognise that COVID-19 has had a profound impact on small businesses across the country with the public transport sector being especially affected as public health restrictions have necessarily discouraged people from travelling generally. Taxi and other small public service vehicle (SPSV) operators, who are particularly dependent on the hospitality and tourism sectors, have faced a particularly pronounced drop in demand for their services.

It is in recognition of these difficulties that the Government has introduced a wide-ranging programme of supports with broad eligibility criteria for individuals and businesses which have been adversely affected by COVID-19. Many of these supports can be accessed by self-employed taxi drivers including liquidity and investment measures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, as well as the Enterprise Support Grant and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) from the Department of Social Protection.

Self-employed recipients of the PUP, which includes many SPSV drivers, can also avail of the Self-Employment Income Scheme which provides for an income disregard for the first €960 earned in a given 8-week period. Individuals exiting the PUP may also avail of the COVID-19 Enterprise Support Grant, a once-off grant of up to €1,000 which can be used towards the costs associated with reopening a business, including the purchase of cleaning materials and personal protective equipment.

 I remain committed to supporting the transition of the SPSV towards zero/low-emission vehicles and I have increased the funding available to the Electric SPSV (eSPSV) grant scheme from €1 million in 2020 to €15 million in 2021. Furthermore, in view of the particular challenges faced by operators of older vehicles, I have doubled the amount payable under the scheme to €20,000 for operators who scrap older vehicles and make the switch to full electric models. Additional amounts are available for those switching to vehicles which are both electric and wheelchair accessible.  There has been a strong interest in the revised scheme since its launch in February with over 400 applications received to date. 

In relation to access to bus lanes, the Deputy may wish to be aware that there are no plans to change the present arrangement whereby taxis can access bus lanes during their course of business.

The Government has not exercised quantitative controls on taxi licences for nearly two decades. The consequences of such quantitative controls in the past were that passengers routinely endured lengthy queues for taxis at ranks. Dublin in particular suffered from a chronic undersupply of taxis. A moratorium on the issuance of licences would not serve the interests of those who use taxis and I do not support it. There are no plans to reintroduce such controls. Furthermore, I don’t believe a moratorium would, in any event, address the core concerns of taxi drivers, noting that licence applications are just a fraction of what they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Age limits for taxis and hackneys are a matter for the NTA as statutory regulator. I can confirm, however, that the NTA has extended age limits for taxis twice since the start of the pandemic. Following an initial extension in March 2020, last December, following public consultation, the NTA extended them further to the end of 2021. I trust that the NTA will keep this issue under active review as the pandemic progresses.

The Advisory Committee on Small Public Service Vehicles, which is established under the Taxi Regulation Act 2013, enjoys a broad membership with members representing driver interests, dispatch operators, passenger interests, and official stakeholders such as local Government and An Garda Síochána. This diversity of representation, combined with members' commitment to having a well-functioning and effective SPSV sector, is a real strength of the Committee. It has been highly effective throughout the pandemic and will remain the central focus of my engagement with the SPSV sector. I will be meeting with the Advisory Committee again this week and I encourage taxi representatives to work constructively through this Committee.

The National Transport Authority, as statutory regulator for the sector, will continue to engage with the industry and communicate regularly with individual SPSV operators in relation to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.  My Department and the NTA will also continue to engage from time to time with stakeholder groups, including driver representative groups.