THERE HAVE ONLY been 32 additional taxis added to the ranks in Dublin city so far in 2022, new figures show.
There are a total of 10,087 taxis currently registered with the National Transport Authority (NTA) within Dublin.
The low number of new taxis come as Dublin faces a taxi shortage, with latest figures from the NTA showing that only 29% of drivers are working during the busy periods of Friday and Saturday nights.
Readers told The Journal of their experiences trying to get home after socialising in the city centre, with some saying that they were forced to wait hours for a taxi, while others opted to walk home.
The figures on additional taxis were released as part of a parliamentary question to Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond.
In a statement, Richmond says that the lack of taxis within the capital is now a “serious issue”.
“Whether it is day or night, weekday or weekend, accessing a taxi in the city has become extremely difficult since the lifting of pandemic restrictions,” said Richmond.
“Swift action is needed to increase the numbers of taxis in Dublin. People are left wandering the streets after a night out trying to hail a taxi in person or through an app, often competing with hundreds of people for a handful of taxis.”
On Friday, it was confirmed that taxi fares are set to increase by 12% on average from 1 September as part of measures to reflect the increasing operating costs for taxi drivers.
Richmond said that this increase in cost should not be placed on customers, who are already facing higher costs across the board.
He said that there needed to be a reduction in the cost of taxi licences and for airport taxi permits.
“We need to help incentivise people to turn to this career; by reducing the costs of taxi licenses and slashing the cost of airport taxi permits, as well as removing unnecessary bureaucracy that makes it difficult for drivers with suitable vehicles to access these licenses,” said Richmond.
Richmond added that ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft, which are used in other European cities, should be examined to help meet the current demand.
Earlier this week, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that services like Uber and Lyft should be examined, saying that there are more options to get around in other countries.
“What I find is, when you go to other countries you have other options than a taxi – whether it is public transport and you also have things like Uber and things like Lyft,” said Varadkar, speaking to reporters.
“They are just not available in Ireland in the same way and maybe we need to look at that again and see if we can liberalise that.”
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