North Longford village to roll out hackney service to curb rural isolation fears

Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan TD, alongside the National Transport Authority (NTA) launched the scheme on Monday.
The Local Hackney Pilot is a grant aided programme, which is designed to encourage new part-time local hackney services to operate in communities which could not support a full time taxi or hackney operation.

Applications to take part in the Pilot Programme can be made at localhackney.ie

All drivers will be licenced, insured and Garda vetted and will be able to pick people up from their doors to drop them to where they want to go, providing that essential “last mile” connection for people living in more isolated and rural areas.

Each successful applicant for the local hackney license may be granted €6,000 as a subsidy to ordinary fares income, to run the service.

This grant is designed to contribute towards the fixed costs associated with providing this service. It is payable by NTA over one year, in equal monthly instalments, where the service provider can show that the services are being used and the local hackney service is of benefit to the community.

This special limited local licence is designed to ensure that existing taxi or hackney services already operating and providing appropriate service in any area are not displaced.

The local hackney, which exclusively operates on a pre-booked basis, may only pick up passengers within a designated area of 7 to 10km from a chosen point, normally the residence of the licenced driver. The final acceptance date for applications for the Pilot is February 28 2023.