I assumed that all these veting measures had already been in place.
Who are we entrusting when we hale a cab and assume a safe journey ?

The biggest issue I have with taxis is that they are not cost effective to take for short distances. It can be about €5 before you set foot in the cab and the driver makes you feel guilty that you’re not going to the airport or Donegal.

Too little too late the taxi regulator was and still is a joke and this present day situation was helped by weak goverment policy to make a complete mess of what was already a joke, wasted time and money for all concerned,even the dogs on the street knew of the abuses going on in this industry and nobody did anything to resolve them, typical Irish style answer to a problem wait until the end to try and fix things, taxi regulator ,what a joke, what a waste of resources , what a mess

Most taxi drivers I know will welcome those changes, and have been asking for them for years. Dublin has more taxi drivers than new York!!

About time and I wish the previous proposal to have cars no older than 4 yrs old had been implemented also.
I hope that these new regulations will only be the start of proper regulation and I know many Taxi owners who are proud of their profession will have no problem with any new legislation to control the ‘cowboys’

The government should copy London and bring in the black cab for Dublin,start all over again with testing drivers, find out who they really are and make sure they know their way around the city and main roads out of the city……….for instance,asking to go to balbriggan and have a driver taking you out the n4 to maynooth!!!!!!! Less taxis and proper ranks and we will benifit with a better taxi service.

@ Damien the reason taxi drivers where up in arms because before deregulation they paid 100k for their plates, afterwards the plate was reduced too 5k, which swamped the market.

Maybe in larger city’s a knowledge system as they use in London would prove to be a better regulator.

Only dedicated would be taxi drivers would apply and after successfully passing the knowledge would know all routes.

“we want it to be a sector worth working in again”
Taxi men ruined it for themselves and that’s why the industry was deregulated, they were all up in arms when this happenend so the government as a sweetener told them
They could claim back there tax over the last 3 years, only problem was taxi men only earned 10 grand a year and didnt pay tax “listen bud i struggle to make a living, it’s all a myth about the money”,”really? All a myth, is that why you borrowed a 100k on a taxi license so you couldn’t make money?”

@raf I think you will find we already have “Ryanair taxis”. It’s the regulator i.e the government who set the fares for taxis not the drivers themselves. All the fare prices are in front of you on display when you get into a taxi.

My brother drives a taxi, he took a second job as the bottom fell out of the market.. He now works about 20 hours doin one job and about the same in the taxi to try and provide for his family. Which job will be classed as his primary job. Are all part time workers in every sector gonna have to do the same. ie I’m a teacher but I do a bit in the Dail from time to time. But in all seriousness there’s thousands of people juggling what they can to pay for government driven over borrowing.. Get the crims and illegals out.

Grand i can now get a cab without been brought the scenic route.you know what i mean……

how about a uniform colour for taxis in the main cities?

Only problem with all these new regulations/laws and waffle by the government, who will in force it?

A couple of home truths guys: the regulator has never worked in the industry, an Irish applicant for a licence gets vetted by the guards, as does a foreign national, however the foreign national only gets vetted for his/her time in Ireland. A lot of part-timers don’t pay tax as their tax clearance cert from their full time job covers the renewal of their licence every 5 years. A licence holder has to produce a tax clearance cert yearly.

Ban firemen, guards, etc from driving taxis.

Taxi’s are the least Tax compliant industry in the country as it’s cash only
Many Taxi’s want more regulation and pay their fair(fare) share of the burden like the rest of us
Taxi men are like farmers who moan a lot but don’t pay hardly any tax either

Taximen ruined it for themselves . They kept it closed for years . It had to open up and when it did it went the other way .

Any taxi drivers moaning that they bought a €90,000 plate a year before the industry was deregulated, sorry but de-regulation was flagged well in advance. That was a foolish punt.

I have a problem with one part of this “Measures to allow gardaí to issue fixed-penalty charges for small infringements, without going to court.” That means they’re guilty until proven innocent through an appeal which a lot of taxi drivers might not know how to do cause they could be old or young and using it as a job to just get by. If a Garda wrongly fines them and they don’t know how to appeal then that’s hardly a fair legal system in my opinion.

Taxi drivers should have to pay a minimum amount of tax each year. If a taxi driver cannot to pay taxes and prsi the equivolent to at least the national minimum wage, then they shouldn’t be yet another taxi clogging up the roads. In Dublin you’ve got a 30km zone in the city centre. In Galway, we have no need for such measures; Taxi’s doing a drive slow continuously around town take care of excess speed.

The crazy high fares say one thing: We need more taxis, not less of them.

I flew across Europe cheaper than my fare to Dublin airport was—this is absurd. There’s too little competition, we need taxis deregulated and have Ryanairs of taxis.

Taxis are already overregulated and as a result, absurdly expensive. Liberate taxi market and you’ll see prices come down.

Changing roof signs is unnecessary cost and will only benefit a sign maker—let me guess, a single company for the country?

And what’s wrong with part-timers? All that will be achieved is that drivers will lose their extra income.

• Taxi should be a standard car with a standard colour. Maybe two models ( one for wheelchairs)
• two different licences, 1 full time, 1 part time.
• Part timers only allowed work from 11pm till 4 am mon- fri and weekends.
• all taxi’s should be electric
• drivers should pay tax on each fare ( vat style)
• All drivers should be vetted and qualified to drive the area they work.
• each car to have fitted a camera that can be used as for a random tax audit
• driver take a course in good manners