Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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180. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider an extension to the maximum permissible age of taxis under the Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015 for vehicles who reach their ten-year limit in the first half of 2025, given the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the income of taxi drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2600/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government 2025 commits to 'extend the ten-year vehicle limit for taxis registered in 2015, offering another year of service' and I will engage with my Department to consider how best to take that commitment forward.

The background to this issue is that the National Transport Authority (NTA) as the statutory, independent, regulator made regulations in 2010 under Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016 that established a maximum permissible age of 10 years for new standard taxis and hackneys. The ten-year rule was adopted in recognition of the need to strike a balance between achieving standards that offer the customer confidence, comfort, and safety, and allowing industry members to operate successfully.

The Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016 require the NTA to seek to promote the provision and maintenance of quality services by SPSVs and their drivers. The Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015 continued the age limit for taxis and hackneys as, in general, less than 10 years old, and always of a condition and quality suitable to provide SPSV services.

Wheelchair accessible taxis and wheelchair accessible hackneys can operate up to 15-years old. No maximum age is set for limousines due to the vintage nature of many of these vehicles, and the reduced mileage they do due to their ceremonial and prestigious roles.

The NTA's extension of age limits during Covid-19 was an emergency measure of a temporary nature, taken in recognition of the particular challenges posed by the pandemic and was specifically aimed at ensuring that no operator would be required to change their vehicle while passenger demand remained low, and there was a lack suitable vehicles available for purchase.

The 2022 Regulations amend Regulation 31 (Maximum Permissible Age Requirements) of the Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015. This amendment was made as an exceptional provision and contingency measure, as a result of vehicle supply issues. The Regulations also provide for a graduated return to the ten-year age limit, with vehicles whose 10-year limit was originally in 2020 or 2021 now extended to 2025; those whose original limit was in 2022 or 2023 now extended to 2026, and those whose original limit was reached in 2024, extended to 2027.