Sir, On a recent visit to Dublin, a city which considers itself on the forefront of Europe, I was amazed to witness people standing in the cold for up to two hours to get a taxi. This simply would not happen in the vast majority of European cities (or indeed, towns). Either the market would be allowed to regulate itself, with the benefits of ensuing competition, or else there would be enough licences to deal with the numbers desiring a taxi.
Thankfully, I was staying in the centre along with a legion of Journalists who, I dare say, would not have such a rosy picture of Dublin if they had to wait two hours for a taxi. It's insane that this should he the case in a capital city, and an indictment of politicians in Dublin - evidently afraid of the votes of an extremely limited number of taxi-drivers.
The lunacy is compounded with the cost of a plate on the open market. If the drivers are willing to let the market decide the value of the plates, then should not the market decide the number of taxis? - Yours, etc,
Fitzwilliam Street, Belfast BT9 6AW.