Taxi drivers hold crisis talks ahead of meeting

CORK taxi drivers held crisis talks last night ahead of a crunch meeting with the industry regulator.

The chronic lack of taxi ranks in the city is among their main concerns.

The responsibility for providing ranks has been taken away from the local authority since deregulation.

But they also plan to call on Ms Doyle to clamp down on the issuing of PSV licences to foreign nationals and for an overhaul of the national meter system.

Willie Wise, secretary of the Cork taxi branch of the fledgling Irish Workers Union, said these and other driver concerns would be raised with Ms Doyle at the meeting which is due to take place within the next 10 days.

“We are the only public transport sector which has been deregulated and then regulated again,” said Mr Wise.

“As a result, the taxi industry, particularly in Cork, is at its lowest ebb in 30 years.”

Drivers from several taxi unions attended the meeting last night and complained about the chronic lack of official taxi ranks in the city.

There are an estimated 1,600 licensed taxi drivers in Cork city and county and more licences are being issued every day.

However, there are only four official taxi ranks in the city centre — on Patrick’s Street, on Parnell Place near the bus station, at Kent railway station, and at Cork Airport — providing 46 spaces.

As a result, drivers have to park in traffic lanes and double park in other places to make a living, said Mr Wise.

Drivers are calling for the establishment of suburban ranks in places like Bishopstown and Douglas, at large institutions like Cork University Hospital, University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, and at the large suburban shopping centres.

Taxi unions combined recently for talks with gardaí and city officials and successfully negotiated the establishment of a five-space taxi rank on Academy Street. This approach should be replicated across the city, Mr Wise added.

Drivers are also concerned about the issuing of PSV licences to foreign nationals.

“They can arrive at a motor tax office with the drivers licence from their own country and hand over €25 and within 10 days, get an Irish drivers licence,” Mr Wise said.

“They can then apply for a PSV licence without knowing the rules of the road here.

“I welcome integration but some people are getting licences who don’t even speak the language and who don’t know where they are going.”

The meeting between Cork taxi drivers and the regulator is due to take place within the next two weeks.