Small Public Service Vehicle (Emergency Measure Covid-19) Regulations 2020

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 175/2020
• Year: 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 19th May, 2020.

The National Transport Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 7 and 20 of the Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016 (No. 37 of 2013 as amended), hereby makes the following Regulations to make exceptional provision, having regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in order to mitigate the adverse economic consequences likely to result from the spread of that disease and to mitigate its impact on essential public transport services:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Small Public Service Vehicle (Emergency Measure Covid-19) Regulations 2020.

2. In these Regulations, “Covid-19” means a disease caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 and specified as an infectious disease in accordance with Regulation 6 of, and the Schedule to, the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1981 ) or any variant of the disease so specified as an infectious disease in those Regulations.

3. The Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015 are amended -

(a) by substituting at Regulation 31(1)(a) “eleven” for “ten”;

(b) by substituting at Regulation 31(1)(b) “sixteen” for “fifteen”; and

4. This amendment shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 13th day of March 2020 and will continue in operation until the 31st day of December 2020 inclusive.

GIVEN under the Seal of the National Transport Authority

13 May 2020

FRED BARRY

Chairperson, National Transport Authority

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The purpose of the Small Public Service Vehicle (Emergency Measure Covid-19) Regulations 2020 is to temporarily amend Regulation 31 of the Taxi Regulation (Small Public Service Vehicle) Regulations 2015, Maximum Permissible Age Requirements. This amendment is made as an exceptional provision and emergency measure resultant from the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that public transport, specifically including small public service vehicles, are deemed by Government an essential service.