I am sure the Taoiseach will have seen media reports of the high-profile case of Naveed Rana, a taxi driver who was jailed last week for five and a half years for repeatedly sexually assaulting a young woman he was driving home. At the time of the assault, Mr. Rana was reported to be out on bail for serious drug offences. Does the Taoiseach agree that it is completely unacceptable for anyone charged with a serious offence and out on bail to operate a taxi? According to section 36 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, a mandatory disqualification should have happened. In most other sectors, a person would be suspended pending the determination of such a case. Will the Taoiseach raise this with the National Transport Authority? An urgent review of the regulations in this area is needed. The NTA must prevent a recurrence of this scenario, restore public trust in public transport and ensure regulations are adhered to.

I thank the Deputy for raising this extraordinarily important issue. He is entirely right on the importance of people being and feeling safe as they access transport, including taxis. I recently met with the Ministers for Transport and Justice and their officials specifically on the issue of safety on public transport, including taxis.

My understanding from memory is that the Minister for Justice has a review under way on a number of these matters. I will seek an urgent update for Deputy Devlin.