Taxi group to take action over regulation Act

A COUNTRYWIDE taxi driver organisation is to challenge the legislation under which the taxi industry is regulated.

At a meeting to be held in Dublin later this week, the newly formed Tomanai Tacsaí na hÉireann, which has over 1,000 members, will tell drivers it will bring legal action against the Minister for Transport on the grounds of failures in the Taxi Regulation Act 2003.

Taxi drivers have been expressing concerns about the policing of the industry by taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle, their loss of income due to an oversupply of taxis and the introduction of new standards for vehicles.

Lockhart, O’Leary, Maher, solicitors on behalf of the new group, wrote to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey last month outlining drivers’ concerns but they have not received any response.

The letter said there had been a failure to regulate multiple licence plate holders and part-time workers within the industry.

“Members of the public are being driven by parties who may have already used up the hours available to them to drive under the public transport system,” the letter stated.

This was a cause of concern under the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, which limits driving hours.

The letter also said some drivers had relied on statements from Ms Doyle when she said new vehicle specifications, including that a taxi should not be more than nine years old, would not be introduced until 2012.

“This date has now unilaterally been brought forward by you resulting in losses to a number of our clients’ subscribers,” the letter said.

It accused Mr Dempsey of failing in his duties to taxi drivers and requested a response within 21 days.

Frank Byrne, a director of the new organisation, said they would make a “well-planned challenge” to address the situation the industry was in.

He said it was likely they would seek a judicial review of the legislation, but it might also be possible to look for an injunction to prevent some aspects of the regulations from being introduced pending a review.

The decision on what action to take will be made after meetings with drivers around the country.

The group will meet drivers in Ballyfermot, South Dublin on Wednesday.