365. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider measures to facilitate the entry of young drivers into the taxi industry through the sale of already existing licences by older drivers who wish to exit the industry. [60769/26]

The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including SPSV licensing, 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.

Section 14(1) of the Taxi Regulation 2013 Act placed a prohibition on the transferability of vehicle licences, such that all SPSV licences are unique to the person to whom the licence has been issued and cannot be transferred or sold to another person. This follows a recommendation in the 2011 Taxi Regulation Review Report that a licence should determine a person’s suitability to carry out a function, and it should not have monetary value or be traded on the open market.

There is only one exemption to this non-transferability restriction; upon the death of the holder of a vehicle licence, another person who has been “nominated” by the licence holder prior to his or her death, may apply to NTA to continue to operate the licence. If that person is found to be a suitable person to hold a licence, i.e. fulfils all the terms and conditions applying to any licence holder (including tax compliance), the NTA may transfer the vehicle licence to that nominated person.

In 2022, the Advisory Committee on SPSVs indicated that it is not in favour of reverting to a legal situation which allows for the transferability of SPSV licences. The then Minister considered the Committee's Report and accepted the Committee's advice that the transferability of SPSV licences should not be allowed, and that remains the position.

It may be of interest to the Deputy that there is no cap on either vehicle or driver licence numbers for entry to the SPSV sector in Ireland. The NTA is currently accepting licence applications for wheelchair accessible taxis, wheelchair accessible hackneys, limousines, and local area hackneys.