The Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation and Dublin Corporation appear convinced that the new taxi-sharing system will help ensure plenty of taxis over the Christmas period. An exasperated public is entitled to be sceptical. Indeed, it is difficult not to see the taxi-sharing scheme - due to be introduced on a pilot basis at the end of this month - as mere rearranging of the deckchairs on a sinking ship. With just 2,700 taxis serving a city of well over a million people, the answer to the taxi crisis is more taxis, not more people huddled into the few that are sometimes available.
The political system appears unable or unwilling to respond to the crisis. One of the great popular mysteries of Irish life is why this Government, or at least its majority party, has allowed its taxi policy to be dictated by the needs of a small vested interest group rather than those of the common good. The public of the capital city, one of the most dynamic in the EU, is crying out for a decent and efficient taxi-service to match its new-found busyness ands prosperity. Instead, it endures a situation where visiting businessmen can scarcely find a taxi to ferry them to and from the airport and where the locals must routinely plan a night out without contemplating an option other EU citizens take for granted - a taxi to bring them home. Routinely, those seeking a taxi by telephone will be told that they should call back later or that they must wait for a considerable time. The political response has been feeble. Since last Christmas, there are 350 additional taxis on the road and no detectable improvement in service. The Government - riven by a disagreement between the PDs who want deregulation and Fianna Fail who seem strangely protective of the status quo - continues to sit on its hands. Some kind of Cabinet initiative is expected shortly but the vague commitments made in the Action Programme for the Millennium two weeks ago give little ground for optimism. At the current rate of progress - some 350 extra taxis per year - it will be a decade and more before the supply of taxis approaches the level of demand. There is no good reason why the public should have to wait. And no reason why the debate should be dominated by the needs of the taxi lobby. The Government should stop dithering, show some courage and deregulate the taxi business in Dublin. If and where necessary, a compensation system can be devised. But the priority in framing policy must be to serve the needs of the public.