Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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205. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has considered allowing the transferring of taxi licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54921/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry including licensing, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016.

The Deputy may be aware that the transfer of licences for SPSVs is, at present, prohibited under section 14(1) of the Taxi Regulation Act, 2013. All SPSV vehicle licences are unique to the person to whom the licence has been issued and cannot be transferred or sold to another person. In the case of the death of a licence holder, however, Section 15 of the same Act applies special provisions. In such circumstances, a SPSV licence may continue to be operated by a person who was nominated by the licence holder in advance of his or her death.

The current licensing regime is built on the principle that a licence should have no monetary value or be traded on the open market and should simply indicate a person’s suitability to carry out the role of taxi operator, as decided by Revenue, An Garda Síochána and the National Transport Authority (NTA).

In line with its functions under the Taxi Regulation Act, 2013, the NTA has requested the Advisory Committee on Small Public Service Vehicles to conduct a review of the issue of licence transferability. The Committee had been preparing advice on transferability for both single licence holders and corporate taxi businesses prior to Covid, when all such matters were shelved to deal with the urgent supports within its remit. It is expected that the Committee will submit a report and recommendations on this issue to the NTA shortly.