Taxi-drivers take their protest to Minister at her home

Disgruntled taxi-drivers in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, brought their complaints to the door of the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, this week.

A group of drivers protested outside Ms O'Rourke's clinic at her home in Athlone, claiming rural taxi-drivers were suffering more than their urban counterparts in the aftermath of deregulation.

The Minister spoke to the chairman of the Mullingar branch of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, Mr Mattie Egerton, for around 15 minutes on Monday.

Ms O'Rourke said she was glad to talk to someone at the "coalface" of the dispute. "Obviously I don't make policy for taxi-drivers but I did say I knew the Taoiseach had an intense interest in the matter," she said.

The Minister said she had since written to Mr Egerton, assuring him she would raise the matter with Mr Ahern and Minister of State Mr Bobby Molloy at the first opportunity.

Mr Egerton said he told the Minister about the problems rural drivers were experiencing since deregulation. He said there were now 87 taxis operating in Mullingar - compared to 50 before regulation.

"This is having a devastating effect in country areas, more so than in cities because we don't have the volume of people," he said. "Taxi-driving is turning into a part-time industry in rural areas. Our income has halved."

Mr Egerton said the Government should take responsibility for the financial implications deregulation was having on taxi-drivers by setting up what he called a "restructuring fund".

The taxi-drivers also told Mrs O'Rourke they wanted to see the immediate appointment of a regulator to oversee issues such as fare increases and quality of service.

Mr Egerton said he believed the standard of service provided by taxi-drivers in Mullingar had dropped as a direct result of deregulation, leading to a large number of complaints.

According to Mr Egerton, Mrs O'Rourke seemed keen on the idea of a regulator.

"She said she would discuss it with her people and would definitely bring it up at the next Cabinet meeting," he said.

Mr Egerton said Ms O'Rourke was receptive to his complaints, but he insisted the campaign would continue.

"The protest is not going to go away. It will escalate if nothing is done," he warned.