Taxi regulation - Public must feel safe

Few areas of commercial life seem as impervious to regulation as the taxi industry. Thus the promise of new rules and regulations for the business will be warmly welcomed by the public.

Among 40 changes proposed in a review by the Department of Transport, none will be more welcome than the proposal to remove people with serious criminal records from the sector. Stories abound of murderers and ex-drug pushers and others involved in criminal activity behind the wheels of taxis.

In a recent Garda check carried out in Dublin, 16 taxis were found to be illegal.

While it could be unfair to exclude some reformed criminals from driving taxis, public safety must be paramount and so the move to require those with certain criminal convictions to apply to the courts to maintain their licence is the right way to go.