IRELAND’S CONSUMER WATCHDOG is calling for increased access to ride-hailing apps on the Irish market due to a taxi supply shortage.

New research from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) suggests four in 10 people who tried to get a taxi in December reported difficulties doing so, while almost half of taxi users want the choice of ride-hailing.

The CCPC is calling for the removal of regulatory barriers to allow more ride-hailing apps.

Ride-hailing apps, such as Uber or Bolt, connect private drivers to passengers via apps, allowing drivers to provide services using their own cars.

According to the research, 57% of those surveyed by the CCPC believe that there are not enough taxis available in their area.

The issue was particularly bad outside Dublin, where only 28% of people believing there are enough taxis in their area. This drops to 21% for those living in Connacht or Ulster.

Last month taxi drivers warned that the market in Ireland risks being “controlled by profit-driven algorithms” due to the rise of taxi apps.

Drivers told the Joint Committee on Transport that the app algorithms “increasingly reward longer hours and penalise job refusal”, which creates downward pressure on earnings and threatens the long-term viability of the profession.

Research from the CCPC also found that 60% of taxi-users would support a fixed fare option, which guarantees passengers a maximum fare.

Taxi drivers in Dublin held protests in December against Uber’s new fixed rates system. They accused Uber of undermining the regulated taxi fare structure set by the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Speaking on Morning Ireland this morning, Brian McHugh, CCPC chair said more ride-hailing apps would give taxi users more choice.

“We want to see a system where drivers can use their own cars can enter the market. There’s huge barriers to entering the market, and there’s quite a lot of restrictions that are not in place in other countries” he said.

When it was put to him that the move may impact taxi drivers’ livelihoods, McHugh said that is not what has happened in other countries with ride-hailing apps.

“That’s not what we see when we look internationally. The one country where people are leaving the industry is Ireland,” he said.

“When you have competition, when you give consumers choices, innovation, products, use, new entry into the market. That’s what a healthy market looks like, and we do not have that in Ireland.”