Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

There is great alarm, anger and concern among taxi drivers across the country because of the moves by Uber to introduce a fixed fare system. As outlined in the question by Deputy Pa Daly earlier, he alluded to the very serious question on whether this fixed fare being brought in by Uber actually circumvents, undermines or subverts the taxi regulation legislation in this country, which is designed to protect the regulation of the taxi industry, the livelihoods of taxi drivers and the existing fare structure based on the taximeter. This is negotiated every couple of years and takes into account the need for taxi drivers to have a fair income, while taking account of their costs and so on, rather than have price competition, which can undermine their livelihoods and their incomes. The fixed fare structure Uber is trying to bring in is undermining that. It is undermining the taximeter and it means that taxi drivers would not get the fare they should get according to the meter.

Just in case customers or consumers out there might think this is somehow a good thing for them, they should bear in mind what happens when Uber gets its way. Even if people think in this case there might be some short-term benefit, in reality what Uber does everywhere is undermine the proper regulation of the taxi industry. Here we have proper regulation so you know who your taxi driver is. There is safety and accountability in terms of your taxi driver. It is somebody who is a proper, regulated taxi driver with a licence. What Uber does is try to get rid of all of that and introduce the situation where basically anybody at all can moonlight as a taxi driver and the industry and the livelihoods of taxi drivers are undermined. Once Uber has succeeded in deregulating the industry then it can jack up the fixed fares and can add in all sorts of charges. Currently there is accountability. There is a relationship between the customer and the taxi driver where the customer can see the meter and can see what he or she will be charged because what the charges will be is legally regulated. All of that potentially goes out the window once Uber gets in and prises open the market.

Taxi drivers will protest this Saturday about it, they have called for a boycott of Uber, and I think they are absolutely right. Taxi drivers should delete the Uber app and they themselves should take action to get Uber out. The Government should also intervene to stop what taxi drivers rightly believe to be an action by Uber that is undermining the regulation of the taxi industry as set out in the taxi regulation Acts and in the maximum fare order.

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