Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It is unfortunate that the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 does not address the regulation of one of the most crucial issues which stands out with regard to the taxi industry today, which is a chronic oversupply of taxis. One can be sure this is the case when the taxi review group which was established by the Minister of State in 2011 and certainly was not a hotbed of socialists found, due to the economic downturn, an oversupply of 13% to 22%. One fifth of an oversupply would be excess capacity in any industry, and I suspect it is probably far more than this. Our eyewitness evidence bears testimony to this as far as Dublin is concerned, and there is a similar situation in some other cities.

On a Friday or Saturday night in Dublin the city centre provides a surreal sight with endless streams of luminous yellow snaking along the streets, approaching the city centre on all sides and stretching as far as the eye can see, as hundreds of taxi drivers, or probably in reality a few thousand, cruise the streets for passengers in the hope of making a living. When we are out looking for a taxi it is very convenient that one is instantly there, but a balance must be struck because there is a crucial human cost to this situation and a human cost to the extreme deregulation carried out in the taxi industry from 2002. Sight should not be lost of the fact that taxi drivers are self-employed public transport workers providing an essential service in our society.

Just as Bus Éireann drivers deserve a just regime, decent wages and proper conditions, so too, taxi drivers should be treated in the same way. During the time I served as a Member of the European Parliament, I used taxis quite a bit going to and from the airport. As a Dáil Deputy, on days of high pressure, one tends to use taxis regularly. Therefore, one gets to talk with a cross-section of the workforce in the taxi sector. It is clear that taxi drivers work under real financial pressure and working conditions that result from the difficulty of making a living, which is often a tortuous experience.

I have often used taxis whose drivers may have been on the road for four or five hours but had only €35 or €40 in takings. These men and women have families, mortgages and all the commitments of other workers. In addition, they have serious overheads in running vehicles on which their livelihoods depend. It is simply unjust that this section of the workforce is allowed to be put under such pressure, involving immensely long hours as they try to make a living.

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