Dublin will get 830 extra taxis if the city's local authorities accept the recommendation of the Local Authority Taxi Committee.
Yesterday the committee, which was established by the four Dublin local authorities to examine the taxi and hackney situation, issued a recommendation that the number of taxi licences be increased by 830 over the next three years, with the first 300 licences issued as soon as possible. The committee also recommended that no limit be put on the issuing of hackney licences.
The recommendations will now go to be ratified by the four local authorities. Ms Olivia Mitchell TD, a member of the committee from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council, said that as the recommendation was unanimous, she would expect that it would be accepted.
The committee was established after the 1995 decision that local authorities take over the power to issue taxi licences from the Department of the Environment.
A number of decisions have already been made increasing the number of taxis on the streets of Dublin.
Following several reports into the Dublin taxi problem 200 licences were issued in 1997 and a further 300 were to be issued this year.
So far 200 have been issued and another 100 are to be issued over the next few months. These are separate from the decision taken yesterday. At the same time the number of hackney licences has risen by 287.
Yesterday Ms Mitchell, who is the Fine Gael spokeswoman on Dublin traffic, said the unanimous decision was recognition of the gross under-provision of taxis in the Dublin area.
"The hope now is that not only will the new taxis and the lifting of the moratorium on hackney licences meet existing demand but that it will generate additional demand from commuters switching to public transport."
The committee is recommending that the new licences range from £14,000 to £18,000. The lowest cost is for cars using liquid petroleum gas (LPG); the middle range for petrol cars, that can be converted to LPG; and the highest for diesel-powered cars.