Taxi review set up to drive out criminality

A MAJOR review aimed at stamping out criminality in the taxi industry, maintaining a living wage for drivers and providing a safe service for consumers was announced by the Government yesterday.

The review, to be chaired by Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport Alan Kelly, is “to explore all aspects of taxi regulation in Ireland”. It is to carry out its work over the summer and report to Government within four months.

The review committee’s terms of reference include recent allegations of criminal activity involving taxi-licence holders.

These include claims of fraudulent use of taxi plates such as “cloning” – running two cars with the same number plates – using fraudulent documentation, taxi licences and NCT certification.

The review will also look at the number of taxis and the practice of individual ownership of multiple licences, as well as the suitability of the holders of licences.

Questions on the rights of licence holders and the possibility of introducing new regulations on the suitability of licence holders will be brought to the Attorney General.

Announcing the membership of the committee yesterday Mr Kelly said: “We are seriously going to take criminals out of this industry.”

Mr Kelly said he appreciated the difficulties of honest drivers in making a living since deregulation and while the review would address this, the ultimate aim of the review was to provide a safe and effective service for the public. In relation to the numbers of licences permitted by local authorities, Mr Kelly said he recognised “quantity as well as quality” was an issue. He said the difficulties faced in making a living brought about by deregulation were not just a Dublin issue but were just as pertinent in rural areas.

Mr Kelly said the Attorney General would be asked for advice on how to prevent drivers with “a certain class of criminal conviction” from operating a taxi.

Mr Kelly did not say what types of convictions would be deemed unacceptable but said there would obviously have to be a “scale” and passenger safety would be paramount.

Mr Kelly also said the committee would examine whether it was possible to confiscate licences from drivers on their being given serious criminal convictions.

He said most taxi drivers were honest and law-abiding and the review would support their entitlement to make a living.

Former Garda commissioner Pat Byrne is to be the vice-chairman of the committee. Mr Byrne said allegations in a recent RTÉ Prime Time programme were the “catalyst” for the review.

The committee will also include three representatives of the taxi sector; three representatives of consumers, including one representative of people with disabilities; a representative from the Department of Transport and one from the Department of Justice; and a representative from the National Transport Authority.

The committee will also include two Garda members, a local authority representative and a representative of the Competition Authority.