800 taxi drivers protest at lack of regulation

About 800 taxi drivers who staged a three-and-a half hour protest outside Leinster House this afternoon are to take their protest to Trim Co Meath, next Wednesday.

The drivers, members of the Taxi Drivers for Change movement said they were protesting against a lack of regulation which has seen taxi numbers in Dublin rise to more than 16,000 - which they claimed was in excess of the number plying for trade in new York.

Drivers gave individual testimony to working 16 hour days to earn sums of about 50 euro and called on taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle to immediately publish a report from Goodbody Economic consultants on the state of the industry.

Drivers also criticised Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey who they said had "washed his hands" of their plight and had refused to meet representatives of the organisation.

Now the drivers will take their protest to Mr Dempsey's constituency base of Trim in an effort to force him to consider their demands which include a moratorium on the issue of new licences.

Disruption due to today's protest was kept to a minimum with gardai and drivers working together to coordinate the event. Convoys of drivers left Stillorgan, Liffey Valley and Swords from midday arriving in Merrion Square up to 3.30pm when speeches were made. Committee member Martin Duffy told the drivers: "We might lose a day's pay but what's €60?" He urged all present to travel to trim on Wednesday next, "because if Mr Dempsey doesn't want to see us we can show him there are a lot of people who want to see him".

Some disruption to the evening commute is expected as taxi drivers head back to the suburbs.

Two other strands of the protest, one which began at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and at another which started at the Stillorgan Shopping Centre have also converged on Merrion Square where a protest is underway.

Taxi drivers said last week they would "bring Dublin city to a standstill" as drivers from across the State converge in their vehicles to protest against the number of taxi licences being issued.

Organised by the non-union group, Taxi Drivers For Change (TDFC), some 2,500 taxi drivers marched in the capital last Wednesday calling for a moratorium on the issuing of licences, saying the market is now saturated and drivers cannot make a living.

In Tullamore, protesting taxi drivers handed in a letter to the Taoiseach's constituency office, while more than 150 drivers protested in Waterford.

Jim Waldron, one of the founders of TDFC, addressed the marchers and drivers as they reached Leinster House, about an hour and a half after they had set off from Parnell Square.

He said the march had been, like the previous three, "dignified and peaceful". However, no one from Fianna Fáil had come to meet them. In particular, he said, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey had not met them to discuss their concerns.