Losers in taxi deregulation seek EU backing
The delegation, members of the European Parliament’s petition committee, are to meet today with Transport Minister Seamus Brennan to discuss the effect of overnight deregulation on taxi drivers and their families. The members will report back to the full committee.
Campaigners are hoping the government will be pressured into increasing compensation for drivers, their families and widows. Dublin City Council has collected €36m from the sale of 6,000 plates, yet, says Cathy Darling, of Families Advocate Immediate Redress (FAIR), the total hardship package offered is just €13m. The all-Ireland total is likely to be close to €50m.
Ms Darling, spokesperson for the wives, partners and widows’ lobby group, said: “We made our case to the petitions committee in Brussels and now they have come to Dublin to investigate the matter further. The committee has indicated their commitment to progressing our petition and to finding a solution that is fair.”
The lobby group already have the support of the committee vice-president, Proinsias De Rossa, a member of the four-person delegation. “It’s widely accepted that the package offered was derisory. In the interests of natural justice and fairness, this package should now be improved by the government,” he said.
FAIR cited the examples of two of its seven-strong committee who have lost their homes after borrowing tens of thousands of euro to pay for a now worthless plate. Huge investments were made on the understanding from Fianna Fail that deregulation would be phased, MEP De Rossa said.
Figures released by Dublin City Council reveal that in the year following the November 2000 deregulation, nearly 4,000 licences were issued at €6,300 each. A further 1,558 were issued up to November 2002 and 505 between then and the end of March. Since November 2000, only 582 licences for wheelchair accessible vehicles have been sold, for €125 each.
