The Government has welcomed today's High Court decision which upheld the decision to deregulate of the taxi trade.
The Minister of the Environment and Local Government, Mr Robert Molloy, in a statement said: "I hope that this [judgment] will assist in clarifying the situation and allow for further continued quality imporvements in the provision of taxi services."
Mr Justice Paul Carney also rejected of the National Taxi Drivers' Union's claim for compensation - awarding them half costs on condition they do not go on strike.
Taxi drivers told RTÉ earlier they were disappointed by the ruling and that they were considering an appeal against the decision to reject their claim for compensation.
The regulations, introduced last November, removed restrictions on the number of taxi licenses and provided for a range of qualitative controls including annual testing of all taxi vehicles.
While also welcoming today's judgment, Fine Gael spokeswoman on housing and local government, Ms Olivia Mitchell TD, said the Government now faced the challenge of regulating standards and providing for a safe accessible uniform serive.
"The Minister must now at least being the move towards the introduction of a single identifiable car for use as taxis. Apart from the presentation question there is a major public safety issue involved which cannot be ignored," she said.
She said hackney signage, wheelchair accessible taxia, tax certification are also issues that must be addressed.
Commenting on the judgement, SIPTU General Secretary Mr Des Geraghty it represents a serious setback for the taxi industry.
"While SIPTU was not a party to these proceedings and believes it is not essentially a legal matter, there is a responsilbity on the Minister now to address the issues of concern to taxi drivers in direct discussions with union representatives."
Calling for direct dialogue on the issues, Mr Geraghty said the best results could be achieved through an industry-wide agreement.