Regulator to police taxi industry vital

THE Government has serious questions to answer over its failure to impose controls on the issuing of taxi licences to gangland figures in the aftermath of its headlong rush to deregulate the industry.

Particularly worrying is the absence of effective vetting of licence holders working in the front line of the country’s public transport service.

Following a spate of incidents, including the gangland killing of a taxi driver with a criminal background, plus eight instances in which, according to industry sources, female passengers claim to have been raped or sexually assaulted, major questions arise about customer safety, especially after bus services cease at night.