The Government has appointed a panel to examine possible financial hardship experienced by taxi-drivers since the industry was deregulated.
At the Progressive Democrats' conference, the Minister of State, Mr Robert Molloy, announced last night the establishment of a panel of three independent people.
They are to report "in general terms on the nature and extent of extreme financial hardship which may have been experienced by individual taxi-licence holders arising from loss of income as a result of the liberalisation of entry to the taxi industry in November 2000".
He also announced a consultation process for improving the quality of the taxi service, and the consideration of a single national regulator. The announcement follows a commitment from Fine Gael of a compensation package of more than €400 million for certain taxi-licence holders.
Mr Molloy said the Government initiative was in response to the continued claims about the hardship suffered by some taxi-drivers.
"Persons who held a taxi licence at November 21st, 2000 who consider that they have suffered extreme personal financial hardship arising from taxi liberalisation are invited to make submissions to the panel. It will be a matter for those making submissions to indicate how they can substantiate their claim of hardship," he said in a statement.
A two-month period has been allowed for submission, after which the panel will report "on the nature and the extent of the hardship".
The review will examine future regulation of taxi licensing and the possibility of identifying a single national regulator.
Mr Molloy's announcement of a panel received a mixed reaction yesterday from drivers' representation organisations.
It was broadly welcomed by SIPTU general president, Mr Des Geraghty. But Mr Vinnie Kearns, vice-president of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, was wary of the wording "extreme personal financial hardship".