Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on taxi licence numbers, driver numbers and late night working following the recent driver recruitment campaign; if the restriction on plate transferability is recognised as a barrier to recruitment; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10512/23]

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.

As the Deputy is aware, the NTA ran a driver recruitment campaign on national radio and digital platforms in July 2022 to encourage interested parties into the industry. Analysis carried out by the NTA indicates that this campaign has been successful, with a 40% increase in the number of driver entry tests in January 2023 compared to January 2019., which is the highest that the NTA has experienced to date.

On 31 January 2023, there were a total of 14,665 Dublin licensed SPSV drivers, and 25,383 nationwide. The number of licensed vehicles on that date was 19,228. SPSVs themselves are not restricted to a geographical area for operation: they can be operated anywhere throughout Ireland, irrespective of the postal address of the owner/renter of the vehicle and SPSV licence.

As the Deputy may be aware, both the NTA and my Department have taken a number of steps to support taxi drivers nationally and to increase the number of taxis available to passengers, especially for people getting home at night. The NTA approved an average increase of 12% on taxi fares from 1 September 2022. The increase is weighted in favour of premium hours, such as weekend nights, Sundays and bank holidays. It is designed to attract more people to the taxi industry and to encourage more taxi drivers to work during unsocial hours, such as late nights, therefore increasing availability of taxis to passengers nationally. This late night fare weighting is working very well, which is borne out in a much reduced number of consumer complaints received by the NTA.

Whilst the NTA has statutory responsibility for regulating (licensing and enforcement) the SPSV industry, taxi drivers are self-employed individuals and, as such, decide on their own business strategies within the regulatory framework. Additionally, SPSV operators choose the times at which they operate.

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.

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).

The Advisory Committee on SPSVs sent advice to me on this subject recently which indicates that it is not in favour of reverting to a legal situation which allows for the transferability of SPSV licences. I have considered the Committee's Report and I accept the Committee's advice that the transferability of SPSV licences should not be allowed, as is currently the position. As shown in the numbers of drivers currently active in the SPSV industry and applicants taking the driver entry test, not allowing the transfer of licences appears not to be a barrier for entry into the industry.