Hundreds of taxi drivers engaged in unofficial protests in Dublin today claiming a “saturated market” in taxi plates is making it increasingly difficult for them to make a living.
President of the National Taxi Drivers’ Union (NTDU) Tommy Gorman said the drivers were taking action over the “dismissive attitude” of the Commissioner for Taxi Regulation Kathleen Doyle.
Taxi drivers gathered at ranks in the city centre this morning
Mr Gorman claimed the regulator was refusing to take action to deal with what had become an oversaturated market.
“She is issuing 300 new plates a month and we don’t know where the customers are going to come from because each plate would need 12 to 15 passengers a day to make it viable,” he said.
“As far as we are concerned, this market is saturated and it’s very hard to make a living. Drivers were expecting big things after Kathleen Doyle took over as regulator. We met her last September when we could see this thing getting out of hand and we met her in March but she dismissed the concerns.”
Asked what form the protests were taking, Mr Gorman said taxi drivers were all coming out to work on ranks today “as normal”. They would not inconvenience members of the public who wished to hire a taxi, he said.
He said they were gathered at ranks in the city centre and, with the help of the Garda Siochána, were making sure that there were no “blockades” or disruption of traffic.
Traffic in Dublin city centre this morning did not show any signs of unusual disruption. Two taxi ranks in the O’Connell Street area had a number of taxis waiting and appeared to be operating normally.
By just after 11am, there was little evidence of the planned protest in the city centre. However, shortly after 2pm, several hundred taxis drove along College Green sounding their horns.
One driver, who did not wish to named, said earlier at a rank on Dame Street that the protest was "just to show how many cars are on the road". "At the weekends it’s just wall-to-wall taxis and it’s affecting my living," he said.
Brendan Byrne from Dublin stood with a small number of other taxi drivers across the road at Foster Place at 11am. He said he believed the taxi regulator “just doesn’t want to listen” to drivers’ concerns. But he believed more drivers would turn out for today’s “working protest”.
“I was expecting a lot more but I think a lot of lads are probably working the outskirts of the city, the airport and that. It was to be a show of strength, of numbers because we feel it’s at saturation point now. It’s just going beyond a bit of a joke. It’s gone from about 3,000 taxis in this city to nearly 13,000 over seven and a half years.”
The drivers had not intended to carry out any “blockade”. “We don’t want to be upsetting the public. We want to get confidence in the taxi industry,” he said. “Blocking the streets isn’t the way forward so that’s why we said we’d do a ‘working protest’ today," Mr Byrne said.
Paul Kavanagh from Lucan, who normally works at night, said he came out to join the protest to protect his livelihood. He said he knew a number of taxi drivers who had left the business because they could not make a living due to the number of cars on the road.
“It’s great for the consumer but it’s not great for the taxi drivers - we’re all individual people as well,” Mr Kavanagh said. “It’s just got so hard - I work 60 hours a week. I have a wife and two kids. It’s a case of a full-time taxi driver and part-time father with no time to see Shamrock Rovers. I work longer hours now for less money.”
In a statement, the Commission for Taxi Regulation said the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry is now working within a liberalised market and it is not within the remit of the commission to put a cap on the number of licences issued.
“Whilst the commission recognises the right of members of the industry to express their views unfortunately disruptive action only succeeds in inconveniencing potential customers and ultimately affects the earnings of the self-employed drivers," it said.
On the issue of adequate space at taxi ranks, which has also been raised by drivers, the commission said this matter was under the remit of "the relevant local authority".
The commission said it had undertaken to conduct an economic review of the industry and a nationwide audit of taxi ranks in 2008. However, Mr Gorman said taxi drivers under pressure to earn a living “do not have time for an in-depth study”.
Ms Doyle angered drivers last month when she told an Oireachtas transport committee she did not have the power to cap licences and that drivers who weren't earning money needed to manage their businesses better.
Taxi drivers in Limerick and Waterford engaged in unofficial following her remarks and the NTDU warned this action was likely to spread nationwide.
More than 26,000 taxi, hackney and limousine licences were issued up to last March.