A revised fare structure has been agreed by Westmeath County Council for taxis operating in the Mullingar area following protests by taxi drivers.
The new structure was agreed by the local authority at their monthly meeting this week after taxi drivers claimed initial proposals put forward by the council would result in them taking a 9 per cent drop in income and put many of them out of business.
Under the revised plan, drivers will be paid £3.55 for the first two miles of each journey and £1.30 for each additional mile. The amount set for each additional mile in the original fare structure proposed was just £1.05 but taxi drivers had sought £1.40.
There are 80 taxis in Mullingar and at present they earn £3 for the first two miles of each journey and £1.25 for every mile thereafter. The waiting/standing allowance agreed per hour is now £10, £2 short of what drivers had sought.
Members of the Mullingar branch of the National Taxi Drivers' Union will meet in coming days to discuss the revised fares. Early indications are that they are not happy.
The fare structure was drawn up by the council's transportation and infrastructure strategic policy committee, following submissions from a number of taxi drivers and a survey of the implications of the new fare structure on seven selected routes.
The committee chairman Mr Frank McDermott, a member of the council, laid four possible fare structures before this week's meeting of the council - two devised by his committee and two proposed by the taxi drivers.
In the end it was one devised by his committee, with one amendment bringing the maximum fare for the first two miles from £3 to £3.55, which was adopted. He said he felt the committee's proposals were "customer friendly" but the gap between what it and what taxi drivers were proposing was close. He suggested what taxi drivers proposed would "cripple" customers from rural areas.
A recent report on rural transport in Westmeath showed a very high reliance on taxis in rural areas, he said.
County manager Ms Ann McGuinness said she felt what the committee came up with was a "very fair outcome for both customers and taxi owners".