Legal challenge means peak-time queues will remain for Christmas

Dubliners will continue to face long peak-time queues for taxis for the foreseeable future following yesterday's High Court ruling.

While the decision may eventually mean deregulation and a significant increase in the number of taxis available to the travelling public, the decision by the National Union of Taxi Drivers to appeal deregulation to the Supreme Court means the number of taxis will not increase in time for Christmas.

According to Mr Vincent Kearns, vice-president of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, the decision was "far from being a victory for the hackney drivers and will prevent the ending of queues for taxis in Dublin". He described the decision, which he pointed out was still subject to confirmation by Mr Justice Murphy, as "clouded". "What has happened is that the plan to introduce the 3,100 new licences has fallen. We are in a quandary, we don't know where we stand really, but if it emerges that the ruling means deregulation then we will appeal all the way. We have spent £200,000 on this already (as notice party to the case), we are committed, deregulation would destroy the value of a taxi licence."

Dublin currently has a fleet of 2,724 taxis and there are about 5,000 hackney cabs. Deregulation would reduce the value of taxi plates from the current level of about £80,000 each, to about the same level of a hackney licence, which is just £1,000.

Mr Kearns added, however, that the taxi-drivers were not against the issuing of new licences and said that under regulations introduced in 1995 the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Robert Molloy could release 450 new licences immediately.

Fine Gael's spokeswoman on Transport, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said Mr Molloy was responsible for the "failure to provide Dublin with the taxi service they are entitled to". She said Dubliners were facing their second Christmas since the Minister introduced his plan and "he should step aside immediately".

She also accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of putting what she called "sectional interests" before the public good.

The Labour Party spokesman on the Environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the Minister's proposals had suffered a "terminal setback" and he called on him to accept that his proposals were fundamentally flawed.

Mr Gilmore said the public could no longer afford "lengthy courtroom battles" and an urgent approach was now needed. "The scarcity of taxis in Dublin is now intolerable. While there are many vested interests in the business, the Minister has to ensure that the needs of the travelling public remain paramount."

The Green Party has appealed to all parties to the dispute to come together to work out a solution in the public interest. The party spokesman on Public Transport, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the public interest had become more important in the light of recent attacks on Dubliners who "are often forced to walk the streets late at night because of a poor taxi service".

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has called on the Minister to introduce emergency measures to ensure sufficient taxis are available for the Christmas shopping period. The chamber considers that at least 500 taxis are required on the streets and it has suggested the issuing of temporary licences.

Its spokesman, Mr Declan Martin, said legal wrangling would serve to delay the issuing of new licences, and the chamber urged the Minister not to appeal yesterday's judgment.