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Irish
taxi woes (16/9/2003)
Is
a taxi tsar the answer to the woes of
the Irish and UK cab trades?
Following
taxi deregulation towards the end of 2000, when an
Irish High Court judgment established the
legal position that the limiting of taxi
license numbers in the interests of existing license
holders could not be sustained,
the number of taxis has more than
doubled.
In
June taxi unions organised a 24-hour
strike,
highlighting not only the huge increase
in substandard vehicles, but also an
influx into the taxi trade of the
seedier side of society. The Irish
police regularly object to driver
license applications from convicted
criminals, only to see judges
granting one in three appeals.
Detectives fear that criminals are using
the taxi trade for illicit purposes such
as drug running and money laundering.
An
EU report into taxi services has
placed Dublin bottom of a league of 13
cities, and the Irish
News of the World recently reported
that one in
five Dublin taxi drivers was an ex-con,
and some drivers were being
probed for sex attacks. Four were awaiting trial, two accused of
rape, and two accused of assaulting
female passengers.
Taxi
Regulator Bill
To end this unsatisfactory state of
affairs caused by the
rushed and ill thought through
deregulation, the Irish Government have
approved the Taxi Regulation Bill (2003),
which will establish by this autumn The
Office of National Taxi Regulator. Under
this Bill the principal functions of the
National Taxi Regulator will be:
1.
The
Office of the Regulator will have a
national focus and will have full
effective control of the overall
application of standards and the
licensing of taxis;
2.
The Regulator will set national taxi license
and related fees;
3.
The issuing of licenses to taxis, in
consultation with the Irish police;
4.
The setting of standards for drivers,
driving training, requirements for
entry, a comprehensive local knowledge
and other testing, promotion of
disability awareness and an acceptable
dress code for drivers;
5.
The setting of standards, guidelines and
parameters for the designation and
alteration of taximeter areas, the
setting of maximum taxi fares and the
provision and designation of taxi ranks
and associated bye-laws
6.
The setting of standards for taxis,
including an acceptable limit on the age
of vehicles and the implementation of
the proposed wheelchair accessible taxi
policy;
7.
To develop an acceptable uniform colour
for vehicles;
8.
The overseeing of the National Car
Testing Service in terms of the setting
of standards to be complied with by
small public service vehicles and
taximeters for licensing purposes;
9.
The setting of standards for customer
service and for meeting the needs of
people with disabilities;
10.
Stringent penalties for those who
breach the standards set by the
Regulator. These will include the
suspension or removal of a license.
UK
Next?
In the UK we have over 400 different
councils, licensing you and me over 400
different ways. So if the Irish can do
it with one chap and his 16-man National
Taxi Council, why can’t we? Can we
therefore look forward to a UK Taxi Tsar
recommendation when the Office of Fair
Trading finally reports? Only time will
tell, but do we really need 400
different different sets of standards,
rule books and enforcement procedures,
with all the excess bureaucracy,
duplication and confusion that entails? |
