Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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96. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will give an assurance that any future changes in the licensing of taxis will retain the minimal requirements for an SPSV licence, the requirement for all vehicles to be licences and insured for hire and reward; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9471/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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This Government recognises the important role taxis and hackneys play in our overall public transport system and that is why the Programme for Government contains explicit commitments to support those who use SPSV services and also those employed in the SPSV sector.

A key pillar of the SPSV sector is the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 which sets out a clear regulatory framework with the National Transport Authority (NTA) as the independent regulator. The rationale for SPSV regulation in Ireland is to ensure that passengers have a safe vehicle for their journey, with appropriate insurance in place, driven by a driver who has been vetted by An Garda Síochána and, in the case of taxis, with a pre-established and verified charging system. While there are many other aspects to the overall regulatory system, these are the foundational elements, focussing on passenger safety and protection.

I believe those foundational elements remain valid and am not convinced of any calls for a fundamental change to those elements.

However, I’m also of the view that we need to be open to new ideas and new ways of delivering services, particularly in rural areas. That is why the Programme for Government commits to ‘run a number of pilots enabling ride-sharing platforms to operate to improve rural connectivity’. A key part of the NTA’s Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan is to implement non ‘fixed-route' public transport services in highly remote, sparsely populated areas. With funding under the Climate Action Fund, I’m delighted to say that the NTA will be piloting Smart Demand Responsive Services (DRT) services in Mayo, Kerry and Limerick during 2025. Smart DRT presents an opportunity to implement an agile, public transport solution in both rural and urban areas and help tackle transport disadvantage that can, and does, exist in certain areas that are not suited for traditional transport services.

I look forward to seeing the results of these pilots.