Taxi drivers ‘earn less than minimum wage’ due to glut of licences

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

According to taxi unions, the continued issuing of the licences is not matching the number of journeys demanded by the public, meaning many drivers are earning less than the minimum hourly wage after their expenses are deducted.

They say the taxi regulator is churning out 300 taxi licences per month, and that would require an extra 9,000 customers each month for profitability to remain constant.

As a result drivers are having to work up to 80 hours per week in order to pay their bills.

“This is not a down tools, it is just to show the taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle that the market is saturated,” said Tommy Gorman of the National Taxi Drivers Union.

However, the aim of the protest — to gridlock the cities with the sheer numbers of cars — failed to have much effect with traffic mainly continuing to flow smoothly.

“Drivers are angry. Earning a living for them is getting considerably more difficult,” said Mr Gorman. “Kathleen Doyle wants to carry out an in-depth study, but we do not have time for that. We are waiting on a meeting with the minister this week. We have asked Ms Doyle to approach the minister and bring it into her remit to put a moratorium on the issuing of licences.”

There have been numerous protests around the country in recent weeks, the latest in Waterford and Limerick.

Mr Gorman has warned that the depth of feeling among drivers could mean even more serious disruption in the coming weeks.

One of the big concerns for drivers is that people in other industries are taking on licences part time to supplement their incomes, directly impacting on the full-time operators’ pockets.

However, the Commission for Taxi Regulation has said the small public service vehicle industry is working within a liberalised market and it is not within its remit to put a cap on the number of licences.

“The commission has undertaken to conduct an economic review of the industry and a nationwide audit of taxi ranks in 2008,” it said. “Whilst the commission recognises the right of members of the industry to express their views, unfortunately, disruptive action only succeeds in inconveniencing potential customers.”