Sir, - Several letters have appeared in The Irish Times about the apparent lack of availability of taxis for people with disabilities in Dublin. I understood the frustrations of Mr Brangan (July 16th, 1997) and Mr Creedon (July 23rd, 1997); and now we have Mr Conville (August 31st). The situation in Dublin must be very difficult for the general public to understand given that the hundreds of new licences now on issue were supposed to facilitate the transportation of people with disabilities yet, apparently, do no such thing.
As a taxi owner/driver in the city of Galway for almost 15 years, I have spent considerable time (and some money) investigating ways that would allow me to afford the expense of providing a truly accessible wheelchair taxi service, so far without success.
I have over the past couple of years approached Ministers in the Departments of Finance, Social Welfare, Environment and Enterprise and Employment; none showed any interest in assisting me with my proposals for the revision of legislation which would make provision for such a service possible. Your readers may, for instance, be aware that all of London's 20,000-plus fleet of taxis will have to become wheelchair friendly by the year 2000. This is made possible by the fact that these specialised vehicles are manufactured in the UK at a reasonable cost, unlike here where there is no such manufacturer and where vehicles are very expensive to import, are much more costly to maintain and, for that reason are beyond the reach of most taxi drivers.
The only solution is for the Government to make it compulsory that only London-type, wheelchair-accessible taxis be allowed to operate in our cities. However, this could come about only if our weak politicians would do away with the massive imposition of VRT and VAT, which together add 100 per cent to the cost of importing these specialised vehicles and have so far prevented any forward movement. - Yours, etc.,
Derrick Hambleton,
Manor Avenue,
Kingston,
Galway.