Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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174. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has met with companies (details supplied) to discuss the taxi shortages in Dublin; if not, if he will seek such meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33702/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) sector is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. 

Dispatch operators are regulated in Ireland by the NTA.  They are permitted to provide bookings to SPSV licenced drivers using SPSV licensed vehicles, only.   A fundamental tenet of Ireland’s SPSV regulatory regime is that only SPSV licenced drivers and vehicles are used for the carriage of passengers for reward.   

Ireland's regulatory framework requires that all drivers and vehicles are licensed, as a means of protecting the consumer and helping ensure public safety. Furthermore, no special regulations have been developed to govern the carriage of passengers by passenger cars which are not SPSVs.  Therefore, the classic model where anyone with a car and the relevant App, can provide taxi services, does not exist here.

I have not met with the companies concerned.  I have met with the Advisory Committee on SPSVs three times during the pandemic, with the last meeting taking place on 25 November 2021. These meetings provided me with a valuable opportunity to get first-hand information on the issues affecting the industry, including on the impact that the Covid-related restrictions at the time were having on operators.  The Committee is the primary forum for discussing issues in relation to the SPSV sector. It was established under the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 to provide both the Minister and the NTA with advice in relation to small public service vehicles and their drivers. Neither the NTA nor the Minister are bound by any advice provided.

There has been a representative from a dispatch operator, namely Free Now, on the Committee since 2019, acknowledging the fact that Free Now is currently the largest taxi dispatch operator in Ireland, with around two-thirds of all taxi drivers affiliated to it. Therefore, the views of taxi dispatch operators are listened to and are of great significance to the Committee.

Drivers are an important part of the Committee’s membership, and four positions on the Committee are reserved for members who can represent driver interests. All four of these positions are filled by licenced SPSV drivers from across the country and I am satisfied that this ensures the Committee’s advice is informed by the perspective of drivers. The Committee also features representatives of disabled passengers and older passengers, and members from the tourist industry, local government and from An Garda Síochána. One of the Committees' strengths is this broad and diverse representation. The perspective of passengers is of particular importance in considering SPSV policy issues.