Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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283. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to address the reduction in the past number of years of operating taxis, particularly in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51753/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry 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 has taken a number of steps to support taxi drivers nationally and to increase the number of taxis available to passengers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the NTA extended the final operation date of vehicles on a few occasions and also extended the period that an SPSV licence may rest in an inactive (expired) status, from 12 months to 24 months, which is now permanent. In addition, the NTA made a National Maximum Taxi Fares Order which took effect from 1 December 2024, giving a nine per cent increase in the national maximum taxi fare. This followed on from the 12% increase in fares from 2022. The latest fare adjustment ensures that taxi fares continue to reflect the rising costs associated with operating a taxi service in Ireland. Furthermore, the NTA ran a driver recruitment campaign in 2022 which helped to attract new entrants into the industry.

It may be of interest to the Deputy that the number of SPSVs nationwide has been on the increase over the last number of years. As of 31 August 2025, the number of licensed SPSV drivers in Ireland is 27,894. This represents a 11% (2,663) increase on the May 2022 figure of 25,231 and is higher than the number of licensed SPSV drivers pre-Covid 2019 (27,328). Likewise, the number of licensed SPSV vehicles is also on the rise with 20,919 vehicles licensed in the fleet as of 31 August 2025, representing a 13% (2,449) increase on the 2021 figure (18,470). It should be noted that a licensed vehicle can be operated anywhere in the country, it is only the licensed driver that has a geographical area restriction.

In relation to rural areas, the NTA issues local area hackney (LAH) licences where applicants can show that there is a need for this part-time service and that it will not displace or replace current SPSV providers in a given area. To operate a local area hackney, 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 SPSVs.

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 August 2025, there are 23 licensed LAH vehicles and 26 licensed LAH drivers.

I have been informed by the NTA that they are currently conducting a review of the Local Area Hackney regulations and associated processes with a view to increasing uptake of this special licence type. Learnings from the Local Area Hackney Pilot scheme will an important input to this review. Where amendments to the current regulations are proposed as an output of the review, the NTA will undertake a public consultation on the matter.