72 Mr. McGahon asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the continuous problem that assists in the Dundalk area in relation to persons using their own private vehicles for hire and reward, a practice that is undermining the livelihood of legitimate taxi and hackney owners and their dependent families; and the number of persons prosecuted by the Garda in 1997, and to date in 1998, specifically for the purchase of operating a vehicle for hire and reward without the necessary taxi or hackney licence. [23381/98]

I have been assured by the Garda authorities that the enforcement of the Public Service Vehicle Regulations in the Dundalk Garda Division and throughout the country is given a high priority by the Garda.

I have been further informed by the Garda authorities that 26 persons were prosecuted during 1997 in the Louth-Meath Division for using a private vehicle for hire and reward without the necessary hackney or taxi licence. Eleven people have been prosecuted to date in 1998 for the same offence.