ALMOST 100 taxi drivers have been banned from operating in the industry in the past three years because they are a potential threat to the public, official Garda figures have confirmed.

THE taxi regulator has moved to quell public safety fears by insisting all drivers legally on Irish roads have passed stringent Garda vetting checks before entering the profession.

“YOU encounter problems with your fellow taxi drivers, ordinary people and even the guards. Often people just walk past your cab and other coloured people’s cabs at the rank to get into an indigenous taxi-driver’s car.”

TAXI driver groups have given a guarded welcome to a series of reforms for the industry announced by the Commission for Taxi Regulation.

TAXI drivers have warned older members could be pushed out of the industry if they are forced to sit a tough new exam system announced by the Commission for Taxi Regulation.

Motorists in Dublin are expected to face traffic chaos today as thousands of taxi drivers mount two separate protests.

Motorists will face traffic chaos tomorrow as thousands of taxi drivers stage two separate protests in the capital.

Taxi drivers have threatened to hold the biggest protest the country has ever seen if their demands for a moratorium on the issuing of licences are not met.

TAXI drivers have claimed the industry is in crisis due to the rising number of plates being issued and lack of taxi rank spaces in the leading cities and towns.

The 2008 Christmas anti-drink-driving campaign was launched at Cork University Hospital by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána today.

THE country’s biggest taxi union has warned that taxi drivers are about to start fighting in the ranks over the number of illegal drivers operating in Dublin.

THE slashing of 41 State agencies will be a “first installment” in a long term plan of reducing so-called quangos, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said last night.

SIX major road projects due to get under way over the next two years have been postponed due to budget cutbacks.

TAXI fares will be 8.3% dearer from November 1.

NOT so long ago, when Boyzone were boys rather than men facing middle age, the answer to more or less every social difficulty was to throw a quango at it.

TAXIS flooded city streets yesterday to highlight what they see as a surplus of licences compared to public demand.

FRIDAY afternoon commuters in Limerick and Waterford faced long delays as taxi drivers in the two cities staged separate protests.

THE Commission for Taxi Regulation would like to place on record a clarification in respect of comments attributed to a spokeperson from Shannon airport in a story headlined ‘Airport Taxi Service closed shop’ (Irish Examiner, February 19).

A total of 4,000 people complained about taxi services in 2006, it emerged today.

Dublin City Council has reportedly voted overwhelmingly against allowing limousines and hackney cabs to use the city's bus lanes.

TAXI drivers have expressed disappointment at the sudden resignation of the country’s first taxi regulator in the middle of a series of often controversial reforms of the industry.

The establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority, and that of Ger Deering as its director, will be welcomed by the trade unions.

Officials at the Department of Transport were today preparing to intervene in the increasingly bitter dispute by taxi drivers against new fare structures.

Taxi bosses said today they would do all in their power to ensure that Thursday’s pending strike does not go ahead.

ANGRY taxi drivers are to stage a mass protest rally in Dublin in early September over a new fare structure.

Taxi regulator Ger Deering will not attend a mass rally of drivers protesting against new fare structures.

TAXI drivers last night put on hold a plan to boycott the prestigious Ryder Cup golf tournament next month.

STRIKING taxi drivers were due to return to work early this morning amidst conflicting views about the success of their 24-hour stoppage.

USERS of taxis, hackneys and limousines should begin to see significant improvements in service levels from September, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

TAXI drivers in Killarney are up in arms over a submission sent by Killarney Town Council to the Commission for Taxi Regulation.

Taxi drivers have fallen victim to a hoax claiming they would have to paint their vehicles emerald green as part of new regulations.

A PROPOSED surcharge on taxi fares to compensate drivers for spiralling fuel prices must be effectively controlled to ensure it is reduced if prices fall, a watchdog said yesterday.

A proposed surcharge on taxi rides to help drivers pay ever-higher fuel costs must be effectively controlled to ensure it is reduced if prices fall, a consumer watchdog said today.

BUS and taxi lanes cannot be opened for everyone to use, taxi drivers warned yesterday as proposals to restructure the industry were announced.

Taxi drivers who suffered extreme personal financial hardship arising from the deregulation of the taxi industry in 2000 will receive compensation from the Government over the coming days.

LOCAL authorities are to lose another source of revenue with the appointment of a national taxi regulator next year.

Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan has launched the new National Taxi Council, describing the body as a significant step towards delivering a professional taxi industry countrywide.

TRANSPORT Minister Seamus Brennan admitted yesterday the taxi trade was a “jungle” that needed to be brought under control urgently.