Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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280. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport If he will extend the SPSV licencing period for standard taxi vehicles first registered in 2016, as due to prior extensions given to older vehicles SPSV standard taxi vehicles with a 2014 first registration date are eligible to continue being used as a taxi until 2027. [44833/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including SPSV age limits 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.

The NTA as the statutory, independent, regulator made regulations in 2010 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 their reduced mileage, 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 of suitable vehicles available for purchase. This is no longer the case.

Although passenger usage returned to pre-Covid-19 levels in mid-2022, the year brought new challenges in relation to replacement vehicle supply in Ireland. Climate, energy and geopolitical challenges in particular, made it difficult for all end-of-life taxis and hackneys to be replaced in 2022 and beyond. As a result, and following a public consultation, the NTA Board enacted Regulations which permitted taxis and hackneys with a final operation date between 2020 and 2024 to operate for a period beyond the maximum permissible age once all other licensing requirements continued to be met.

Those Regulations took effect on 18 November 2022 and provided for maximum age extensions of 36 to 60 months, depending on the original final year of operation of the impacted vehicle. From Jan 1st, 2028, all the extensions provided for under the 2022 Regulations will have ended.

In line with the Programme for Government 2025 commitment to 'extend the ten-year vehicle limit for taxis registered in 2015, offering another year of service', the NTA Board approved the making of a new Regulation which took effect from 1 April 2025. One of the consequences of the 2022 Regulations was that taxis first registered in 2012, 2013 and 2014 could operate longer than those first registered in 2015. The 2025 Regulations will largely address this, allowing 2015 taxis an additional year of operation, thus providing a 2026 final operating date for those taxis.

Given the NTA's responsibility in this area, I have referred your question to the NTA for further information. Please advise my private office if you have not received a reply within 10 working days.