Government rules out Uber-style ride-sharing as Tipperary taxi shortage persists
The Government has ruled out relaxing regulations to allow ride-share services such as Uber and Bolt to operate without licensed taxi drivers in Ireland, in response to concerns over taxi shortages in rural Tipperary.
Taxi shortages have been repeatedly raised in parts of Tipperary, with residents saying they struggle to secure transport at night and on weekends.
Independent Tipperary South TD Mattie McGrath raised the issue with Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien in the Dáil before the summer recess, asking whether the Government planned to remove regulatory barriers to such services.
“Particularly in rural areas where many people face difficulties accessing transport in the evenings and at weekends [does] the Government have any plans to remove key regulatory barriers to entry within the taxi market?” Deputy McGrath asked.
He also asked whether the Government would consider removing those barriers to open up the taxi market in line with other European countries.
In response, Minister O’Brien said that ride-share apps used by companies such as Uber “is not a model that would comply with Irish law”.
“The focus of Ireland’s small public service vehicle (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 National Transport Authority (NTA), are used for the carriage of passengers,” Minister O’Brien said.
“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,” he added.
In rural areas, Minister O’Brien said that the NTA issues local area hackney (LAH) licences, allowing people to become hackney drivers for their local area without having to undertake Industry Knowledge or Area Knowledge tests usually required by taxi drivers.
“There are currently 25 local area hackney vehicles and 26 local area drivers nationwide,” Minister O’Brien said.
“The Programme for Government 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.
“While still at an early stage, the NTA and Department is monitoring progress on the uptake to this scheme,” the minister added.