Dublin Taxi Drivers protest over Licence Fee

Taxi drivers in Dublin withdrew their services this morning in protest at a decision by the Taxi Regulator Kathleen Doyle (left) to increase the licence fee.

The cost to obtain an Irish taxi driver's badge has recently been raised from previously € 3 to € 250 (!!!), at short notice, without consultation and for no good reason.

Despite several public protests last month (see also my entry of May 9th), there has been no reaction and no sign of willingness to negotiate the matter from the utterly useless Commission for Taxi Regulation, which employs 23 people full-time for nothing else but to harass Ireland's taxi drivers and to make their lives more difficult and unpleasant.

So the four main taxi drivers unions told their members in the capital not to work today - the day before the European and local government elections - between 7am and 11am. This is the latest in a long line of strikes and protests Irish taxi drivers have staged in recent months to highlight their desperate situation. (for more information and details see my entries of March 5th, April 1st & 28th and May 9th)

The union leaders will later today hand in a letter at the Department of Transport. It is addressed to Noel Dempsey (right), our (most ignorant and incompetent) Minister for Transport, and will call for the resignation of taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle.

But as things are with Fianna Fáil ministers and their pet minions and cronies, I would think that Kathleen Doyle's job is quite safe.

Noel Dempsey has absolutely no understanding of transport, no interest in public transport, and most certainly no compassion for struggling taxi drivers.
I doubt that he will even read the letter addressed to him by the drivers' unions. For such menial tasks he has other minions, who will then write a meaningless three-line letter in reply.
Such is government in Ireland, and - sadly - in most other countries as well.

The Emerald Islander

Dublin Taxi Drivers protest again today

The independent action group Taxi Drivers for Change is staging another protest in Dublin today, which will continue throughout this afternoon. At present more than 100 taxi drivers are taking part, but it is expected that more will join the demonstration later.

The group's organisers are accusing the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey (Fianna Fáil), and the completely useless 'Taxi Regulator' Kathleen Doyle (photo below left) of "not listening to their concerns".

Today's protest is also specifically directed against the increase of the taxi license renewal fee.
Last week the statutory renewal fee for a five-year 'Public Service Vehicle License' was suddenly raised by the Commission for Taxi Regulation from € 3 to € 250!
This is a one-step increase of € 247 or - in percentage points - of a staggering 8233% (!!!) and comes at a time when the country is in a deep recession, hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs and money is tight everywhere. It beggars belief how any public body or organisation could be so immensely greedy, cruel and insensible, especially at a time like this.

A spokesperson for Kathleen Doyle said the new fee was "required to cover the processing and renewal of applications".
I suspect the real reason is that the extra money is needed to finance the salary of Doyle's new personal assistant, a position created only recently and now the 23rd employee of the Commission for Taxi Regulation. (In contrast to Ireland, with 4 million people, Germany with a population of 83 million does not have a 'taxi regulator' and anything that needs to be changed in regard to the rules for taxis is handled very efficiently by two civil servants in the Ministry for Transport.)

The taxi drivers say that the massive increase is unsustainable and was imposed on them with no warning or consultation.

Not since the Middle Ages have we seen such arrogance of a public body, which is totally out of touch with the people and in particular with the industry it is supposed to regulate.

Traffic disruptions and delays in some parts of the capital city are expected as a side-effect of the protest. But the people of Dublin are in general very supportive of the taxi drivers' long-running campaign, which has so far organised more than a dozen public protest demonstrations in the capital, as well as a number of smaller protests in other Irish cities, such as Waterford, Galway, Limerick and Cork.

The Emerald Islander


P.S. It is quite an interesting foot note to the ongoing taxi dispute that at a time when jobs are lost and wages are cut almost everywhere in the private sector, the 22 employees of the Commission for Taxi Regulation have received a pay rise. And not enough with that, they even created a new position very recently.
Commissioner Kathleen Doyle, apparently "over-worked and dealing with important issues", now employs a PA (Personal Assistant). The well-paid plum job - surprise, surprise - went to another woman, Sonia McIntyre, an acquaintance of Kathleen.
Nepotism and cosy arrangements are still common practice in Dublin under our government of morons. And those inside the Fianna Fáil lifeboats continue to have safe jobs, very high salaries and a splendid luxurious lifestyle. It is only the rest of us - the vast majority of the Irish people - who are thrown into shark-infested waters, without a wet suit, life belt or swimming lesson...

Taxi Drivers protest against idiotic Regulation

More than 1500 taxi drivers have protested in Dublin this afternoon over the issue of taxi licences.

The protesting drivers assembled at Merrion Square, after making their way from three separate meeting points at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, the Stillorgan Shopping Centre and the Airside Retail Park

This was the fifth public protest by the pressure group Taxi Drivers for Change.

The drivers claim that - since the deregulation of licensing in the year 2000 - the number of taxis in Dublin has risen from originally 2000 to now 25000 (!) and say that too many taxis are currently in operation. As a result it is impossible for drivers to make a decent living.

Taxi Drivers for Change wants the taxi industry to be restructured and the issuing of new licences to be suspended.

The Department of Transport acknowledged that "taxi drivers are facing genuine difficulties". However, a spokesperson said that the Minister for Transport is "waiting for the Commission on Taxi Regulation to report before he makes any further comment".

This is another typical example of the government dragging its feet while a serious problem is appearing on their doorstep. Noel Dempsey (right), the Minister for Transport, has no interest in doing anything, as he has not a clue about the situation on the streets. He also has the reputation of being one of the most messy and least efficient Fianna Fáil ministers.

Neither he nor anyone else in government is willing to acknowledge that the whole idea of 'independent' regulation is a complete failure and responsible for the shambles we can see now every day.

Ireland is a small country with only about 4 million population. But it has a 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' which is "an independent public body, the principal function of which is the development and maintenance of a regulatory framework for the control and operation of small public service vehicles (SPSVs) which comprise taxis, wheelchair accessible taxis, hackneys and limousines". (The author of this definition should be nominated for a hogwash jargon award...)
It is housed in a splendid office building in Dublin and employs 22 people full-time (and some more part-time).
The 22 permanent staff are the Commissioner Kathleen Doyle, and under her two directors, three department heads and a technical advisor. Below management level there are

• one 'customer services manager',
• two 'customer services administrators',
• one 'information officer',
• one 'enforcement executive',
• one 'enforcement administrator'
• and nine 'enforcement officers'.

What all these people with their pompous and meaningless job titles are actually doing all day is anyone's guess. But they are very well paid, for sure.
I asked many taxi drivers about them, and the overwhelming opinion is that they are "a total nuisance", "completely useless", "a waste of space" and "a waste of taxpayers' money".

But that is not enough. The 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' has also a part-time 'Advisory Council' with no less than 17 members! What they do is even more nebulous than the purpose of the commission itself.

In contrast to the Irish situation let's have a brief look at Germany, the largest of the 27 EU countries, with a population of over 82 million (more than twenty times the size of Ireland) and many more taxis than we have.
Germany has neither a commission on taxi regulation, nor any advisory council. The legislation on how to operate a taxi is very clear, and anything that needs to be changed or regulated is done by two civil servants in the German Federal Ministry of Transport. That is it. Two people, for a population of over 82 million, while we have a total of at least 39 people for a population of little more than 4 million.

I think that speaks for itself and needs no further comment.

If the government were really serious with their plans to save money, they would simply abolish the whole bureaucratic apparatus and let the matter of taxis be handled by a civil servant in the Department of Transport. That was good enough until the year 2000, and it worked fine.
But then Bertie Ahern began his mad and irresponsible spending spree, which coincided with a massive programme to create cosy public service jobs for his friends and supporters.

Within a couple of years countless 'regulators' were created out of nothing, and they all got lavish offices with plenty of staff. None of these 'regulators' - from the 'Financial Regulator' over the 'Energy Regulator' and the 'Communications Regulator' to the 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' - has done anything worth doing. In fact, they have made the situation in Ireland a lot worse and cost the taxpayers vast sums of money.

We should scrap the whole lot at once. It would save us hundreds of millions immediately and make life in many areas a lot less complicated.
But going by previous experience, I do not expect this to happen. The cosy cartel of government, TDs, civil servants and corporate bosses is not willing to make the sacrifices the Taoiseach and his Minister for Finance have in mind for the rest of us.

Perhaps some more, and some more direct action is called for to wake them up. I salute the 1500 taxi drivers who made their fifth contribution to this process today, and I was myself among the 120,000 who recently demonstrated in Dublin. We will have to keep this up, and - if necessary - increase the pressure. Otherwise we are settled with this incompetent government for another three years, and by then Ireland would certainly be bankrupt and a failed state.

The Emerald Islander