432. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Transport if, in light of the ongoing shortage of taxi services, particularly in rural areas where many people face difficulties accessing transport in the evenings and at weekends, the Government has plans to remove key regulatory barriers to entry within the taxi market; whether consideration is being given to permitting ride-hailing platforms (details supplied) to operate in Ireland in the same manner as in other European countries to increase transport availability and consumer choice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56044/26]

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 focus of Ireland’s SPSV regulatory framework is on consumer protection and personal safety. A fundamental tenet of Ireland’s SPSV regulatory regime is that only SPSV drivers who are vetted and licensed by An Garda Síochána, and vehicles which are licensed by the NTA, are used for the carriage of passengers for reward, to protect the consumer and help ensure public safety.

No special regulations have been developed to govern the carriage of passengers by passenger cars, which are not SPSVs. Online services such as those provided by FreeNow, Bolt or Uber, are licensed as dispatch operators by the NTA and are required to use licensed taxi drivers to provide journeys to customers. The ride hailing transport model operating outside Ireland, is not a model that would comply with Irish law.

Taxi drivers, who are self-employed operators, make a business decision to sign up (or not) with a licensed dispatch operator such as Uber and FreeNow by Lyft, and are not obliged by the NTA to sign up with any dispatch operator. An SPSV dispatch operator is an individual or organisation that provides a service for taking bookings for SPSV services that are delivered by someone else, or who provides a service that enables intending passengers to arrange the hire of an SPSV themselves. The NTA grants dispatch operator licences to individuals or companies that meet set criteria and believes that dispatch operators have an important role to play in providing a first-class service to the travelling public. Dispatch operators also play a key role in improving the delivery of door-to-door services to people with disabilities.

The structure of the taxi and hackney market has undoubtedly changed since liberalisation of the market in 2002, and more notably in recent years, in relation to the role of dispatch operators. In response to this, the NTA held a Call for Inputs consultation on the dispatch operator licensing framework which closed on 17 April 2026. A public consultation will be held later this year on legislative developments arising from this Call for Inputs exercise.

With regard 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. 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, which are not required to be wheelchair accessible, 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. There are currently 25 local area hackney vehicles and 26 local area drivers nationwide.

The Programme for Government (PfG) 2025 contains a commitment to “Collaborate with the NTA to improve local taxi service provision”. To address this commitment, which is also aimed at increasing SPSV numbers, the NTA conducted a review of the existing LAH regulatory framework and associated processes, following which they introduced amended Regulations, which came into effect on 2 April 2026. In the new Regulations:

- Up to five drivers are permitted to operate a local area hackney (previously one).

- Licences can be granted where local communities can demonstrate that transport needs are not being adequately met by existing public transport and SPSV services. Previously, local area hackney applications could not displace existing SPSV services in an area.

- The maximum licence period for vehicles and drivers is extended from 3 years to 5 years. This reduces the costs and administrative burdens on continuing LAH drivers.

- Licence holders must demonstrate that they are providing satisfactory service to their community when renewing their licence.

- A new Fixed Penalty Notice offence for picking up passengers outside of their permitted local area has also been introduced. This safeguard is an important part of the scheme’s design. It ensures that the LAH licence serves its intended purpose, which is to provide essential transport in communities that do not have enough commercial taxi or hackney services to meet local needs. The restriction also protects the earning potential of fully licensed taxi and hackney drivers operating in nearby towns and urban centres, who have invested significantly more in their licences and meet wider regulatory requirements.

While still at an early stage, the NTA and Department is monitoring progress on the uptake to this scheme.

In relation to barriers to entry, quantitative restrictions, which led to an undersupply of SPSVs in the past, have been removed from the SPSV sector and there are no barriers to entry to this industry other than the obligation to use a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV). As a result of this requirement, significant WAV and eSPSV grants have been provided to SPSV operators to enable them to upgrade their vehicles. In the case of eSPSVs, circa €53m has been provided since 2018 and for WAVs, circa €38m has been provided since 2014.

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.