Meeting in Swords today
Roy March 10th, 2010
The Irish Taxi Council decided to use the conclusions set out in the Transport Committee’s report as their list of demands for the Taxi industry: (this I would fully endorse)
1. That legislation should be introduced immediately to provide for the introduction of a three year moratorium on the issue of taxi licenses with the exception of the provision of wheelchair accessible taxis.
2. That the Minister’s proposal to subsume the Taxi Regulation Commission into the Dublin Transportation Office be implemented immediately.
3. In view of the inadequacy of taxi ranks in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford the Committee proposes that the Taxi Regulator establish the number of extra taxi rank spaces to be provided in each city in 2009 and 2010 and require those additional taxi rank spaces to be provided by the relevant local authorities.
4. That the Garda authorities be given responsibility for enforcement of taxi driver licensing in association with the Taxi Regulator. That a senior Garda be assigned to this role in each Garda division in view of the fact that the Taxi Regulator has already stated that she does not have enough resources to monitor the situation properly (nine enforcers).
5. That insurance certificates be checked in real time to rule out the amount of fraudulent certificates being presented.
6. That the new national licensing system that was introduced in 2006 which gives each license holder a unique 5 digit license number should include the city of issue.
7. That an authorised company would supply the taxi / hackney plates and roof signs with a security code to ensure that they cannot be copied and that they should be supplied only by N.C.T. centres.
8. That new applicants be required to undergo tests equal to or exceeding the standard required to acquire an Irish driving license.
9. To further improve the standard of service delivered, new criteria should be implemented through the examination process that would include a formal interview and proficiency in Irish or English.
10. That taxi drivers who wish to relinquish their plates should be obliged to return them to the Taxi Regulator at the purchase price. This would eliminate the practice of reselling them through newspapers etc.
11. That in the future the practice of renting or leasing taxi licenses should be discontinued with the exception of car replacements.
This list which has been in the hands of the Minister since last July will be sent along with a 7 day strike notice tomorrow…..hopefully there will be a reaction this time.
Personally I don’t believe the Irish Taxi Council has a mandate to call a strike, but instead will use bully boy tactics to enforce their will on those who might not necessarily agree with them.
Some Pictures from the meeting: (click to enlarge)
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- Comments(55)
were you there roy couldnt go meself I have shingles
looks good, but in rlation to your numberin:
1. Isnt the wheelchair taxi only rule coming in soon anyway?
3. who has the power to make the local authorites to provide ranks? don’t think its CTR
4. the gards are already doing the driver licensing
8. the skills test is harder than getting a driver licence…like the language test idea tho.
10. It’ll be us who have to pay if the CTR buys licences back – say 1000 leave, thats 6mn euro that s they’ll get off us in extra renewal fees!!!! No way the govt is going to let them spend €6mn on that.
11. competition authority/EU wont let renting be stopped – anti-competitive etc.
@ rialto, I was sure I saw you there, must have been imaginin’
@T2110, Yeah, I guess the demands should be sent to multiple agencies
t2010
item 11 in the future the practice of renting or leasing a licence should be discontinued .You cannot rent or lease your neighbours TV licence .The minister has the power to amend the use of the taxi licence if he wishes .This would not be anti competative as licences are still available . 10 The buyback scheme would compensate licence holders to the value of the licence.This would establish that the owner of a taxi licence is the opperator so it would be possible to put on the roofsign the area he is allowd to work in.To promote WAT s coming into the fleet.We might offer transferability of plates in return for a single coloured branded taxi fleet this would mean that a person who wishes to opperate as a taxi on a part time basis and does not want his employer to be aware of this fact (soldier postman schoolteacher)would need to have two vehicles one for private use and his taxi .this would mean that we both have the same costs of providing our taxi vehicle thus leveling the playing field .As only the licence holder can opperate the taxi his wife cannot use it as her daily car.This plan would mean loosing transferasbility which new drivers do not have and may be introduced any way and will possibly mean an increase in your yearly fee .But if it reduces to a workable level the amount of taxies in the fleet then it must be considered as the right direction to go
Re the buy-back: “Critical Success Factor(s): Buying back licences is outside the Commission’s remit and is beyond the Commission’s powers. In any case it would have a number of negative downsides for new entrants, existing drivers, and the Commission”…form the CTR website: http://www.taxireg.ie/about/publications/guidelines-and-other-publications.html
the remit for the commission is set by the minister If he says buyback then buyback it is .Yes some licence holders will loose out but they will gain in the long run .
so if 1000 leave, then the ctr is down €6.3mn (€6300 * 1000). say theres 25000 vehicle licence holders left, and they have to pay for the 6.3mn (coz the ctr needs to match incom with expendature). That means the annual vehicle licence fee would have to increase by another €252 per vehicle, if me calculator is workin.
we’re protesting about a driver licence fee of 250 every 5 years, but now were saying sure hike up the vehicle licence by €252! i dont fancy that.
She who looks like a Bulldog Terrier, and Muppet Dempsey will continue to throttle the surviving drivers unless an all out long term strike by drivers commences.
One day wonders are unhappily a waste of time.
A real sacrifice must be made, or Fianna Fail will continue-through their quango- to completely ignore the despair of full time drivers.
The key to the issue may well be the full and total withdrawal of service at all Airports and train stations.
Radio company, drivers must respect enforcing the ban on collecting businessmen at these places.This will get the DAA to put some pressure on their political masters.
Alternatively a “wildcat” withdrawal every week for the first 4 weeks.
A good strategy must be planned.Problem is getting full support. Not all drivers are fully dependent on their income from the taxi business.Probably a minority, if the facts were ascertained.
yeah but you didnt respond to my buy-back point? Do you want us to pay an additonal €252 a year on the vehicle licence renewal??
and anothe thing, we’re not “striking”, we’re protesting. We’re self employed, so unless we’re “striking” against ourselves….
Well the real test will be the weekend of the Scots rugby weekend
2010
do your research.she has 23 million of our money left which will be taken by the transport authority if we dont make her spend it .Thats enough to buy back 4000 licences and if she needs to buy back more then yes we will pay the less taxies the more work the more work the more wages is that to simple a concept for you to grasp
@john – no need for the tone.
If there is a morratorium, then theres no new license income for the CTR. Cant see them paying out €6mn, or €23mn, when they have no money coming in.
Either we go for the morratorium or the buy-back, not both…otherwise we’ll be paying €1k a year on licence fees.
Listening to Dempsey on the radio news this evening.He continues with his bulldog approach to taximens demands.
Dempsey is an indescribable muppet.He changed his mind quickly enough over his crazy plan to put half the population off the road overnight last year -when thousands of irate voters were infuriated. Many of them were driving with provisional licences,and suddenly found themselves with no way to motor from their ghost estates in Meath to their jobs /colleges etc in Dublin!
Drivers would be better focussing their minds on Leinster house.If a few hundred of them brought sleeping bags and camped outside Dail Eireann,enough of the rest of the wimps/sheep citizens in the country might actually join them and put this government out of office with “People power”.It has already been done before in other countries.
If Brussels dictated policy of “deregulation” of transport facilities, means impoverishment for 30,000 self employed Irish citizens, I believe there are ten times that amount of good and moral citizens living in Ireland who want no part of it. Why is the livelihoods of taxi drivers currently protected in many parts of Europe by responsible and decent Councillors,whereas in other regions these hapless community has been thrown to the neo-liberal agenda of bureaucrats who are removed from real life,in ivory towers in the EEU parliament.?
Fianna Fail “deregulate” whatever they can -but only if it suits their political agenda. The deregulation of the train services has not yet commenced-why? The partial deregulation of the bus service has been a disaster so far, and if pursued to its logical conclusion will entail private companies cherry picking the lucrative routes and the taxpayer picking up the tab for a worsening-or nil- service on many routes. Fianna Fail deregulated waste collection and now their buddies in local councils want to backtrack and raise more stealth taxes by re monopolizing the bin collection business.
@2010
Ill try again
1 There are to many taxies for the work available .
2 Amoritorium will not reduce the amount of taxies or increase the amount of work.
3A buyback in conjunction with a moritorium will allow the industry correct itself.
4Yes your yearly fee will increase. I call it the miwadi principal the less you dilute the orange the better it tastes.The better it tastes the more you have to pay
1. More needs to be done to increase the demand for our services, not just reduce the competition (increase the profile of taxis, make it be seen as good value for money option, make it be seen as more professional and high quality).
2. a moratorium will reduce the amount of taxis…but it’ll take ages.
3. Not sure a buy-back will work. €6k isnt enuf to retire on – those that will sell will probably just go and rent – this wont reduce competition. And its impossible to ban renting.
4. For every person that agrees with you about the benefit of the fee increase, you’ll have two more that dont want to pay for it, they will go on protesting….
If theyve no money coming in, and have to spend what rservces they have on the buy-back, theyll go bankrupt – dont think Finance or Transport or NTA will let that happen, do you?
Sadly, all the above is true.
Worse: I never make much money first part of the week but not having worked had put paid (umh, UNPAID) to even that pittance and I make so little, I already feel it in my pocket. I have been lifting the back seat to see what coins are there. Well, all in all 1.78 !
So we have the choice: Being right and letting the world know all about it or: ignore the colleagues who are sacrificing what little they can earn and make a little more than usual by scabbing.
I apologize for missing the meeting. I was so busy writing an e-mail to Frank I forgot the time.
Reading the responses and proposals, they all make sense but we have to be aware of reality.
One is that our own pitbull has been given power that she will not be prepared to relinguish easily.
Second is that the minister is a slippery politician who will agree to anything as long as it will serve to take the heat of him. Which is exactly what KD is doing .
Three don’t keep your hopes too high on any reform that will improve our lot. Read the small print in Murphy’s law:
The light at the end of the tunnel is likely to be he headlamp of an oncoming train !
Four: I agree with the mathematicians who already calculated that refunding the licence fee if the plate is handed back will result in another hefty increase in the renewal fee for the rest. By-the-way I hear wispers that the licence will be valid for three years iso five, is that true?
Five: It will be easier to enforce the law and teke all drugs off the streets than to stop rental taxis. Rented plates are put on a vehicle that will be registered in the name of the plate holder, not the owner of the car. That is already so. What is to stop another driver to act as “cozy” ? The 9 year rule will, in my humble opinion, NOT be reversed. There are many immaculate older cars on the road now. In the current situation many will not be able to replace theirs, so my guess is that we will see a return of the old cozy system. KD and ND blether about the improved vehicle standards and safety. What their hare brained ideas will lead to instead is an overall REDUCTION of car standards. Cars will be driven hard because they will have to be scrapped, solely on the year of manufacture, not – as John Usher pointed out – on condition. There will be no incentive to maintain a car properly if the scrappage date approaches. A little example: During the snow in January my tyres were still within the legal limit but I bought new ones for the sake of safety. If my car is nearly ten years old I would be inclined to try and get the last millimeter of tread out of them.
Six: What I would prefer is a strict control on multiple plate holders, as well on owners of one plate who rent it out to others. They should be obliged to ensure that the cozies are legal, including passing their PSV number to an apropriate authority, and rent should only be to drivers whose car is off the road (existing plate holders) or on a long-term basis. NOT on a one day or night rent !
Seven: I also proposed to Frank that we seek permission from the Minister to establish an official volunteer self policing body. Meaning: Train a number of volunteers from full-time drivers and give them a badge or photo ID entitling them to conduct spot checks on other drivers with the power to call in the Gardai to enforce it. I cannot imagine legal drivers to have any issue with a system of self policing. It will make it virtually impossible for illegals to keep operating. I am definitely NOT racist but when I look out of my window at the rank I see quite a number of non-Europeans. There is a growing discontent amongst both drivers and the public about the growing proportion of taxi drivers who are not Irish or from another EU country. Students or recent immmigrants are unlikely to have the driving skills nor local knowledge required. Eliminating “amateurs” or worse, illegals should have a beneficial effect also for those who are not Irish but legal. Once we can be assured that all (or nearly all) taxi drivers who are obviously of non-European background are properly licensed then the racism that is starting to creep in on us because of the activities of illegals will hopefully be a thing of the past. I personally know several African taxi drivers who are honest, competent and legal. I have not asked their opinion but I guess that they also will welcome a control on illegals !
Once illegals are off the road we can assess how our business will develop. Stricter standards on new entrants should indeed include a check on their competency to speak English. Irish will be a nice addition but, sadly, is not the first requirement in the Dublin area.
Eight: A moratorium, if possible: absolutely. If only to stop the current race to the bottom. It can be totally justified by the need, the VERY URGENT need to take stock and reform the taxi industry before it is too late.
Thus spoke, well not Zarathustra but Flybynite !
PS: I guess we are back at work unless and until told otherwise?
Again you are designing camels!
Taximan2010,
OJTC is both out of date and, in some regards, simplistic. It does, however, provide a framework better than anything ITC have produced “in house” to date.
Moratorium – Completely irrelevant. Plates are selling on the open market at prices €2,000 below the issue fee.
Rank Space – Should reflect market demand. As SD pointed out recently more rank space just for the sake of more rank space is of no benefit. CTR is engaged in drafting guidelines for local authorities and does have the power to provide financial assistance to them.
Driver licensing – CTR to assume responsibility from an Garda Síochána in the near future. They have recognised the necessity for a review of relevant legislation.
Skills Test – Significantly improved in respect of new entrants since CTR assumed responsibility from an Garda Síochána. Proficiency in Irish/English is integral.
Buy Back – According to a report in Fingers Fahey’s local rag Minister Dempsey instructed CTR to examine such a possibility. CTR has €23M which it can re invest in the industry. Hence such a scheme could be integrated into the objective of increasing WAT numbers e.g. by restricting the rental market to WATs.
Flybynite,
Self policing is divisive, biased and open to corruption.
Full time men policing double jobbers?
Drivers with racist tendencies policing Foreign Nationals?
What’s required at the moment is unity.
To all taxi drivers men and women of our industry. rather than all the arguing ,fighting between us of what we think should or should not be done, would it not be better this time to do something our industry has not seen before and thats sticking together . unity, only then we stand any chance of saving our buisness . I dont care if its the I T C , S I P T U , N T D U , I T D F , N T P H , Who gets the credit or by whatever means is needed to change DEMPSEYS mind or kathleen doyles mind but for god sake colleages stick together and support it .together we have a chance, devided we dont . If this shambles continues at the rate its going next year we will be all gone .so i urge all taxi operaters this is the last straw for us stick together and support .
You’re right Mick. If something is achieved anyone who wants the credit can claim it, except the bleedin hack union
. That’s not important. What is important is that we have viable businesses to operate at some time in the future.
@Stephen
we are agreed on all points, except the buy-back….
I appeal to the Irish taxi Council to consider my plan of action:
1 Organize 200 drivers prepared to camp in their cars for as long as it takes.
2 Take over Kildare Street-from end to end.
3 hire a PR outfit to get proper media coverage.
4 Appeal to all disgruntled citizens from whatever spectrum of society (victims of Fianna Fail) to come and join the “park in” on foot or bicycle and stand with their brother workers.
5 Remain outside Dail Eireann until all reforms are publicly agree to-or until Fianna Fail are forced from office.
A strike at the airports could take place in conjunction.
Causing traffic jams infuriates the public you need on your side.
Close Kildare Street-keep it closed-appeal to the public for a mass demonstration.
Buybacks will never happen in the current political climate…..or any political climate!
Closing Kildare St. would not be tolerated…tried it in Oct.
There are taxi drivers both capable and experienced in PR. Unfortunately ITCs PRO is not.
stephan
I think you would be a great P.R.O for the I.T.C i for one would support for the job now all you have to do is ask frank, just say i sent you.
John boy
No I wouldn’t John Boy. PR is not my thing. It’s a shame the man currently in the job doesn’t also recognise his limitations.
I know a man who can, I’ve discussed it with Frank…
Mick is spot on:
stick together or hang together.!
Unity would be nice, but we seem set on divisiveness
Roy
Dealing with government is like playing chess you ask a question you get an answer you then ask a question about the answer you got then you question that answer. Sometimes you find out nothing of value and you loose a pawn .The game is to capture the king reach your goal,succeed.Frank Byrne and the members of ITC dont know the rules and dont have the intelligence to play .So their solution is to turn the board upside down and prevent anybody else from playing.I didnt go to Swords because I saw all this before .The best way to recruit paying members to your club is to keep sturring the shit and convince people that you and only you have the answers.There are problems in the business and they have to be dealt with.The ITC invaded an office blockaded the streets and achieved nothing .They do not communicate nor do others about what is the state of play.I look forward to the day Mr Byrne and his band of thugs stand before a judge and have to answer for their illegal activities.
Yes I agree, we are poorly led, how can we set about forming a proper representative body similar to IBEC, or the Vintners or the Farmers
First realise that the fella with the biggest mouth is just that .The big mouth.
You Talkin’ to ME!
Ain’t no-one else here
lol
No Sir
I dont mean you but just because you give a monkey a microphone does not make him a popstar or a leader of men .
Roy, we don’t need one. I asked the question some time ago, that was your response.
I likes chess player
jack
When checkmate is achieved you have won but on the way you might reach stalemate and choose to call it a draw and both give and take .In Mr Byrnes case it is probably time to turn up his king .I would suggest that his bishops and knights covet his throne and he should watch his back, obviously one of the knaves waits in the wings possibly speaking in foreign tongues .
Ah checkmate. Achieving mate is everyones goal. Sometimes its far better your opponent realises your superior play and discoveries are going to defeat him and he wisely surrenders rather than get decimated.
WHATS THE STORY IM GOING TO TEASTO ON FRIDAY ARE YIS WORKIN OR WILL I HAVE TO GET THE POXY NITELINK
wer werkin!
We will be working Friday evening, 3 hour stoppage planned for the Afternoon
jack
There are only so many squares and they are fast running out .A full frontal attack is all that is left .They have all forgoten about Mister Alakine you must defend to go forward.I fear ther is no fall back position or prospect of advance a gambit unworthy of the name .I see only fools mate and no mates
@chess, a discovery or 2 are still at hand.
hey queen where did yuo get the teasto tickets
What is Teasto?
teasto is a dj how old are you
Very!
Erm try again folks….it’s Tiesto.
I remember back in the day when I fancied the arse of Madonna, I wanted to know everything about her, her full name, Madonna Louise Ciccone. I wanted to spell her name on my journal at school ‘Madonna loves Dubstar’.
53 cents is on the following night
Dubby you only fancied her arse
When I was being dragged up Steph if we fancied a girl we would said, ‘I fancy de arse offa dat one’.
I was dragged up in the same vicinity as FdS
You can take de persun outta de mun but you’ll never take de mun outta de person
And why should ya nuttin wrong with da mun
Oh boys
How wonderfull Cheltenham has started.i shall have a little wager .I went with a group of fellow students in 1974 It was so embarrasing i wes wearing the same top coat as the Queen mother.Mertil Grimthorpe had a contact in a stable and we were able toget to pat a horse.I remember young John Francome in his tight pants walking like a gunfighter into the saddling arena.One of my girlfriends who lives in Malvern InWorcestshire has just been on the phone looking for my mothers recipie for a dinner party she is giving .She says the owner of a horse running at the races must be backed.It is called Watch Your Back and is trained by Mr Ferdie Murphy.
I shall away now and go to paddy power I have a free bet voucher
Yours
Dymphna
PS A happy St Patricks day to all
a huge amount of current taxi drivers supported de regulation back in the day. now they want a cap on licences because it is having an impact on their income. in my family, uncles, brothers etc… our plates were de valued by about 800,000euro after we had invested our hard earned money to earn a living. this is what you wanted people and now you have it! but now you don’t seem too happy. sorry to throw a spanner in the works but why should I stand by drivers who wanted this and sneered at me when I went out in protest after losing a lot more than most?where are your hackney roof signs now? yes I may sound bitter but thats not my fault.
We thought Regulation meant just that (Regulation) there hasn’t been any! (just a free for all)