PROTESTS BY taxi drivers, which delayed traffic in Limerick and Waterford yesterday, are likely to spread nationwide, the National Taxi Drivers Union has said.
The union's president, Tommy Gorman, said drivers were "very angry" with taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle, whom he said had shown a dismissive attitude to drivers' concerns in relation to the effects of deregulation.
More than 100 drivers staged a go-slow in Limerick yesterday afternoon causing severe traffic disruption in the city centre which lasted into rush hour.
A smaller protest at lunchtime involving around 20 drivers in Waterford concerned the lack of rank space.
Ms Doyle angered drivers earlier this week when she told the Oireachtas transport committee she did not have the power to cap licences and that drivers who weren't earning money needed to manage their businesses better.
Her comments inspired the unofficial protests in Limerick and Waterford and were likely to result in further disputes and stoppages nationwide, Mr Gorman said.
Drivers have called for an immediate moratorium on the issuing of licences, claiming it has become impossible to earn a living because of the numbers of taxis on the roads. They also claim there is insufficient rank space to accommodate the increased numbers of taxis.
More than 26,000 taxi, hackney and limousine licences had been issued up to last March, Ms Doyle told the Oireachtas committee. Mr Gorman said the regulator had a dismissive attitude to drivers. "She said she does not have the power to call a moratorium on licences but she could go to Minister [ for Transport Noel] Dempsey and ask him to bring in legislation on a temporary basis to deal with this crisis situation."
A spokeswoman for the regulator said yesterday the industry was now working within a liberalised market and it was not within the commission's remit to cap the number of licences issued.
