Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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68. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the actions taken by his Department to increase the number of taxis in the Dublin region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46253/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Both the NTA and my Department have taken a number of steps to support taxi drivers nationally:

- The NTA’s recent announcement of new fares which are weighted in favour of those drives working at unsocial hours, like nights and bank holidays. The increase has been designed so as to encourage more drivers to operate during these periods and also encourage drivers who may still not have come back since the pandemic, to re-activate their licences.

- The NTA’s launch of a driver recruitment campaign this summer to promote the sector as a place of employment for people. It is hoped that the expected increase in the number of drivers following this campaign, will impact the numbers available to work during the early hours of the morning, particularly at weekends.

- The eSPSV Grant Scheme to which I allocated €15m toward this year alone and which supports drivers in their transition to zero / low emission vehicles. The number of eSPSV grants administered has been encouraging, with 1052 grants paid between the beginning of the scheme in 2018 to 16th September 2022, with associated funding of €18,524,500m.

- The eSPSV Business Loan provided by Microfinance Ireland to support those SPSV owners accessing the eSPSV Grant Scheme but who are unable to secure finance from financial institutions.

- Government’s generally applicable reduction in fuel related duties introduced earlier this year.

- The NTA’s previous extensions of the Maximum Permissible Age for vehicles during the Covid-19 pandemic, which ensured no operator exited the industry simply because of the need to replace a vehicle.

In addition, the NTA has this week announced a public consultation on a further extension to the Maximum Permissible Age of vehicles in recognition of the difficulties currently being experienced by operators in sourcing new vehicles.

In recognition of the fact that some SPSV drivers have not worked since the start of the pandemic, the NTA also extended the period to 24 months that an SPSV licence may rest in inactive status after expiry (previously 12 months). This measure, which is permanent, was introduced to facilitate drivers returning to the sector as society and the economy re-opened, and passenger demand for taxi services increases.

I can assure the Deputy that my Department and the NTA continue to assess the situation of the SPSV sector, and to monitor the demand and supply situation in this sector.