Hardship scheme 'fails' taxi drivers

A TAXI hardship payment scheme has failed to help drivers and their dependents left in severe financial difficulties following overnight deregulation, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

Transport Minister Séamus Brennan, who was quizzed by members of the Transport Committee, has been criticised for presiding over what taxi drivers and their families describe as a fundamentally unfair system of compensation.

Mr Brennan has promised to meet members of Families Advocate Immediate Redress, a group of wives and widows who campaigned for compensation but have been critical of the way packages are worked out. Mr Brennan, while offering a meeting, has indicated he will not change the compensation system, drawn up by the Government-appointed Taxi Hardship Panel.