Minister Ryan appears to have little interest in, and less understanding of, the taxi trade. He has chosen to direct millions of euros in grants at saloon plate holders, the majority of whom - being the wrong side of 50 - are happy to trouser his money and work a bit less or switch from nights to days.
Having said that, we do have an unfortunate habit of assuming that those in authority are as thick as their actions make them seem. I guess it's possible that the Minister is engaged in a job creation scheme i.e. creating a crisis for himself (or his successor) to solve.