Taxi Reform - Consideration Stage of the Taxis Bill

Speech by David Ford delivered to Assembly, 26 February 2008 on Tue 26th Feb 2008

We should record the fact that the relatively sparse attendance in the House this afternoon, and the unanimity that has been expressed so far, are signs of the good work that has been done on the Bill, both by the Minister and her officials and by the Committee. The fact that we are not engaging in the usual sectarian ding-dong - because Members have agreed on what is best for the people of Northern Ireland - is an example of devolution working well. Although it may be an unusual practice for me, I am happy to join the cosy consensus on this occasion. However, the Minister should not read too much into that.

I thank the Minister for the way in which she has engaged with the Committee. She has accepted the fact that she thought that the Bill as introduced was good, but is now better. I thought that the Bill was not quite that good, but is definitely good now. That is a sign of what can be achieved in the House when people engage. Her officials were willing to come to the Committee week after week to face the dreary sight of up to 11 Committee members, who were there to ask awkward questions and create difficulties. However, those officials came back smiling the following week, with answers. They made an effort to engage and reach agreement, and that is a positive sign of what can be achieved.

Mr Speaker, as other Members have said, not only the Committee staff, but other Assembly staff - some of whom are at the Table with you now - have contributed to ensure that the process worked well. It is right that that be recorded, because it means that MLAs have been able to do their jobs - and that, in turn, shows that devolution has benefits.

I shall refer briefly to some of the points that have been made already. There is little need to repeat everything, and not even Peter Weir managed to refer to all 44 amendments.

There have been problems with enforcement in the past. We have heard about the limited number of enforcement officers, and the huge difficulties that there have been. There is no doubt that some of the represent­ations that were made to the Committee - particularly by some of the public-hire drivers - were entirely legitimate in expressing concerns that enforcement to date has not been carried out properly. I look forward to the additional resources that the Minister has promised, and to the work being done properly.

Other issues that were raised by public-hire drivers, including delays in issuing taxi plates, are important. If we expect drivers to stick to the regulations, it will be important to ensure that the Department enables them to operate legally as speedily as possible.

Taxi-sharing schemes created a certain amount of fun, and that still hangs before us in the form of the secondary legislation that we yet have to face. That taxed our mental arithmetic at times.

Peter Weir has already referred to the unfortunate absence of Trevor Clarke this afternoon. I am not sure whether Mr Weir has him interned in the basement at party headquarters with a pocket calculator, or whether the Minister has locked him up in Clarence Court. However, there are issues that must be debated, because it is not easy to work out the type of scheme that we all agree is necessary. At least some of the officials will not have escaped by the time we consider those regulations.

Attending this debate seems rather like attending a wake. A small group of people who have been friends during the past few months are meeting to celebrate the passing of something that we have all grown to know with some affection. We are here to be nice to one other and tell the odd joke. However, the offspring of the departed is approaching, and we will have to deal with it in secondary legislation. That will cause us all considerable amusement, I suspect.

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