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

The point is, and the Minister of State is absolutely right, that taxi drivers can do that and many now are signed up with Uber, but they have recognised the threat that Uber represents for the industry and Uber's desire ultimately to try and deregulate the entire industry and do away with it as an industry, and undermine the livelihoods in this country of about 20,000 taxi drivers. Many would have signed up probably not knowing what the implications were of signing up with Uber. This is why they are now calling for a boycott and for the deletion of the Uber app.

From the point of view of the Government, we have a regulated industry. I believe that Ireland supported Catalonia in a legal case about establishing the right of countries to regulate their own taxi industry. That was the Government responding to pressure from taxi drivers to protect the taxi industry as a key part of our public transport system and to protect the livelihoods of taxi drivers.

Companies such as Uber and others, with Uber leading the charge, want to create downward price competition, which will undermine the livelihoods of taxi drivers. They should not be allowed to do it. There may be a misconception that somehow the customer is going to benefit from this but they will be sorry in the medium-to-long-term because once Uber gets in, destroys the livelihoods of ordinary taxi drivers and deregulates the industry, it can then jack up the fixed prices to whatever it wants. What we will actually get it is dynamic pricing going upwards in many cases. Taxi drivers would like to see the Government enforce its own legislation to protect the regulation of the industry, which Uber is trying to undermine.

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