Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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229. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if plans are in place to extend the local hackney pilot scheme to rural areas in Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10001/25]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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284. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if plans are in place to extend the local hackney pilot scheme to further rural areas, in particular to areas of Westmeath such as Clonmellon, Delvin, Raharney, which have no such service at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9795/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 229 and 284 together.

The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including the local area hackney scheme, 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 have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV sector.

Regulation 22 of the Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015 sets out the process for the obtaining of a local area hackney licence. The purpose of the local area hackney (LAH) licence is to offer an SPSV service in a rural community where existing transport services do not serve the needs of the community. It is aimed at increasing connectivity for people living in isolated rural or semi-rural areas that are without adequate public transport. It encourages residents to provide a demand-responsive service for their community. The LAH can meet the demand for these services but they cannot displace any existing SPSV services. The LAH licence is restricted to a specified geographical area surrounding a named village or townland. The area is indicated on the licence, and it is that community which is the sole focus of the service.

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. LAH drivers nevertheless must be licensed, and their vehicles must be licensed and insured. A local area hackney may only pick up passengers within a designated area of about 10km and may not pick up a new fare at a drop off point or any other point outside its designated area. As of 31 January 2025, there are 22 licensed vehicles and 21 licensed drivers, operating as local area hackneys.

The 2023 LAH Pilot scheme, launched by the NTA in January 2023 across 21 locations, was a €6,000 grant-aided initiative to support rural transport needs, where existing transport services were found to be lacking. The scheme was not successful, as despite significant work undertaken by the NTA to support applicants, only two operators were licensed.

The lessons learned from the 2023 Pilot are informing the NTA’s plans to develop future LAH services and the NTA confirmed that future initiatives will aim to address the shortcomings identified by the review of the 2023 Pilot, in order to offer practical solutions to address public transport needs in rural areas.

Finally, it may be of interest to the Deputy that a key part of the NTA’s Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan is to implement non ‘fixed route’ (non-conventional) public transport services in highly remote, sparsely populated areas. With funding under the Climate Action Fund, the NTA will be piloting Smart Demand Responsive Services (DRT) services in three zones during 2025, in Achill/Mallaranny, Killarney town and the Mill Road/Rhebogue areas of Limerick city. Smart DRT presents an opportunity to implement an agile, public transport solution for both the urban and rural setting. DRT is important for tackling both transport disadvantage and climate challenges by catering for dispersed, low-density rural areas. If this project is proven to be successful, it could expand further from 2026 onwards.