Mr. Philip Egan:

We lost the two best taxi ranks on O'Connell Street. There are no ranks attached to the new hotels they are building in the city. For example, if you go to the Maldron Hotel on Kevin Street, you are parked at a traffic light. That is not just the case with one hotel; it is the same with many hotels. Connolly Station, which is the second busiest train station in the city, only has three parking spaces because of the luas. We are second-class citizens in our own city. We are supposed to be an integral part of the city. Years ago, when all the hotels were built there was always a taxi rank outside. They are virtually all gone. If you are going down O'Connell Street, one of the main thoroughfares, you cannot get a taxi. We need to be an integral part of the system. There are no taxi ranks at DART stations. People might get the train at 11 o'clock or half past 11 at night to Bray or Sutton, and there is no taxi rank outside for them to get a taxi home, because it is private property.