Madam, - The deregulation of the taxi sector by the High Court in 2000 and the confirmation of that decision by judicial review in 2001 were grounded on a rights-based approach. The two court decisions endorsed the right of persons to enter a trade or profession for which they had the skills and training and the rights of the public to the services of such persons.
The courts also decided that the existing licence-holders had no rights to protection from new entrants and that the Government had no duty to maintain any scarcity value for taxi licences or to compensate those whose licences declined in value as a result of changes in public policy. Alleged undertakings by senior politicians not to deregulate were found to have no legal status and were contested.
Calls for urgent and draconian legislation to suspend new entry to the taxi or any other trade, profession or occupation, cannot be endorsed. The mistakes of 1977 in relation to taxis and 1996 in relation to pharmacies must not be repeated. It is ironic that the taxi- plate numbers on the vehicles in the photographs in The Irish Times's coverage of the taxi protest of June 10th indicate that many of those involved entered the business after the High Court deregulation decision. They are among the beneficiaries of the case taken by those opposed to the previous insider control of entry to the sector.
I regret that your editorial of June 11th repeats allegations that taxi deregulation has brought crime, assaults, run-down cars and overcharging. Crime statistics do not distinguish between pre- and post-deregulation taxi- drivers. Two of the most serious incidents highlighted by The Irish Times in the past occurred before deregulation. Vehicle testing is now more rigorous than before deregulation and the average age of vehicle has not increased. We now have the compulsory issue of printed receipts. The success of the Garda Síochána, the Carriage Office, and the local authorities in facilitating 7,000 new market entrants, in vindication of the rights given by the High Court to consumers and new market entrants, should be acknowledged. - Yours, etc.,
SEAN D. BARRETT, Economics Department, Trinity College, Dublin.