Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
75. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport the reason the NTA extension of vehicle age limits for taxis during the Covid pandemic applied only to vehicles up to 151 registrations but not 152 and subsequent years up until the pandemic itself; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44106/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including vehicle age limits for SPSVs, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV industry.
The NTA did extend vehicle age limits several times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby ensuring no operator exits the industry simply because of the need to replace a vehicle.
The Authority's extension of age limits was an emergency measure of a temporary nature, taken in recognition of the particular challenges posed by the pandemic and was specifically aimed at ensuring that no operator would be required to change their vehicle while passenger demand remained low due to the pandemic.
Since August last year, a series of global circumstances has, in the NTA’s view, considerably worsened the capability of taxi and hackney licence holders to secure new vehicles. Therefore, the NTA proposed to further temporarily extend the maximum permissible age for taxis and hackneys so that no current vehicle licence holder would be forced out of the industry because a replacement vehicle could not be purchased.
The NTA introduced Regulations on 18 November 2022, permitting an extension to the final operation date of vehicles due to reach their final date of operation/maximum permissible age between 13 March 2020 and 31 December 2024. The purpose of these Regulations is to amend Regulation 31 (Maximum Permissible Age Requirements) of the Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015.
The NTA contacted SPSV licence holders to confirm the new final operation date of their current licensed vehicle. This amendment was made as an exceptional provision and contingency measure, as a result of vehicle supply issues. The NTA does not anticipate introducing any further maximum permissible age extensions.
