Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including SPSV licensing, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV industry.

While 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 average increase of 12% on taxi fares was introduced by the NTA in September 2022 following the 2022 National Maximum Taxi Fare Review, 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.

The NTA has commenced work on the National Maximum Taxi Fare Review 2024, which will assess for further changes in taxi operating costs and the market facing the industry. The NTA will keep operators updated as the Review progresses.

The current number of licensed drivers is 26,480, while the current number of licensed vehicles is 19,779. 47% of those vehicles are licensed to drivers with addresses in rural areas. A licensed vehicle can be operated anywhere in the country. It is only the licensed driver that has a geographical area restriction. In May 2023, the NTA undertook a nationally representative survey of taxi user research which covered the topic of availability. Of the respondents, which included both rural and urban areas, 81% reported finding it easy to get a taxi (under 15 minutes).

A total of 2,098 new SPSV driver licences have been granted by An Garda Síochána, the licensing authority for SPSV drivers, in the last 12 months. This is a 72% increase when compared to the previous 12 months (February 2022 to January 2023). For 2023, the monthly average for new driver licences issued was 166. This is due to the NTA's ‘Driver Recruitment Campaign’ which ran in July 2022. In comparison, 2022 had a monthly average of 99 per month, 2021 had 45, 2020 had 71 and 2019 had 139.

The Local Area Hackney licence is open to applications from any person who wishes to provide this service, subject to the regulations. To operate a local area hackney service, two licences are required. These are: (1) a local area hackney licence for the vehicle – this three-year licence is obtainable from the NTA; and (2) a licence to drive a local area hackney – this licence is obtainable from An Garda Síochána. It is not required if a person already holds a valid licence to drive small public service vehicles.

A resident of the area in respect of which the local area hackney licence is sought, is not required to undertake the Industry Knowledge or Area Knowledge tests normally applying for SPSV driver licences. Local area hackney drivers nevertheless must be licenced, and their vehicles must be licenced and insured. There are currently 27 local area hackney operators active nationwide.

Regarding the Local Area Hackney pilot, the scheme was launched in January 2023, which was a grant-aided initiative to support rural transport needs where existing transport services were found to be lacking. Despite significant work undertaken by the NTA to support the provision of this service nationwide, only two operators chose to become licensed under the grant supported Pilot (Roundwood and Castlepollard).

There is no cap on either vehicle or driver licence numbers in Ireland for entry to the SPSV sector. The NTA is currently accepting licence applications for wheelchair accessible taxis, wheelchair accessible hackneys, limousines, and local area hackneys.