SIPTU calls for end to issuing of taxi plates

SIPTU is calling for no more taxi plates to be issued across the country.

The Union’s taxi branch says drivers are being forced to work up to 90 hours a week to stay afloat since deregulation.

SIPTU official, Jerry Brennan, says the Minister for the Environment should put a freeze on new plates being handed out.

"The Minister does have the rights do limit the numbers on the basis of social order. We are stating that our numbers are now living in a state of disorder, both economically and financially, and this has to be dealt with immediately. Nobody can claim that this is the great answer that was proposed to be."