Have problems getting a taxi? It could get much worse.
If you have ever stayed out past 2am on a Friday or Saturday night in Dublin, then you will know exactly how hard it is to get a taxi home, especially if you’re not within a five-mile radius.
If anything, it’s how the capital needs more taxis in order to combat the problem of having people waiting on the streets or worse, walking home by themselves.
According to the Irish Examiner, however, it seems that the city is in threat of having a taxi shortage and the problem lies in rocketing insurance premiums which are stopping taxis from hitting our streets.
Fianna Fáil’s Paul McAuliffe says that many taxi drivers are being forced to leave the industry because they either simply can’t afford to pay their insurance or worse, they can’t even get a quote from an insurance provider.
McAuliffe has said that he has already received multiple complaints from Dublin residents who have been left in the cold waiting for taxis, some of which never come.
“Well we’ve seen increasingly over the past three years the cost of car insurance increase, but those in the taxi industry have been particularly impacted,” he said.
“The real issue now is that we’re being increasingly getting taxi drivers who are coming to us saying that they can’t enter the market because insurance companies will not insure them.
“This week alone, I’ve had two people contacting me saying that they just cannot get a quote.”
This news comes just one month after it was announced that taxi fares in Ireland will increase in 2018 by an average of 3.22%, to take effect on 1 February.
The current charge for a taxi during daylight hours is €3.60 while the existing premium rate is €4 but both of these are set to increase according to The National Transport Authority.
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