Taxi drivers last night described the announcement on deregulation as a disaster for the business and warned that angry drivers were likely to take action in protest. The two main taxi organisations said they did not know how the drivers would react to the move by the Government but they had been angry over the past week at the suggestion of deregulation. The measures announced in the Dail were far worse than they anticipated.
Mr Tommy Gorman, general secretary of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, which has 2,500 members in the State, said they would be consulting their legal representatives overnight to see if there was any way they could take a challenge to the regulations through the courts.
"We're still getting over the initial shock. It's hard to believe that our business will be demolished," he said.
Mr Gorman described the package as a "total monster that will cause untold damage". There was nothing in it for taximen. Now any vehicle could be out on the road.
"Our main problem now is to contain the drivers. They have been very angry over the past week and we don't know what's going to happen," he added.
President of the Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation, Mr John Ussher, said after the announcement that his reaction was one of shock.
"The Minister has given nothing to taxi drivers at all. It's a complete disaster. Every driver who had a asset by having a taxi plate is completely destroyed," Mr Ussher said.
The announcement was actually worse than they expected, he said. The licence fee had been increased; all vehicles had to be wheelchair accessible by 2003 and they had to have automatic machines on board by 2002.
There were 2,700 drivers with licences in Dublin and 4,500 drivers altogether. Mr Ussher said the Minister did not even consult them about any of these matters.
"I just don't know how the taxi drivers are going to react when they hear this. We've been trying to cool the situation since deregulation was suggested so I think there will be huge reaction and I think some form of action will be taken," he said.
The Minister had destroyed their business. "I think that this will wipe out individual taxidrivers," Mr Ussher said.
However, Mr Christy Humphreys of the Irish Hackney Drivers' Association, which has 5,000 members throughout the State, welcomed the announcement.
He said last night they were very pleased with the Minister's announcement and it was what they had presumed would happen all along.
"It's a good day for the hackney drivers and a good day for the general public," he said.
Mr Humphreys said it would benefit members no end and there now would be far more drivers on the road.
On the wheelchair accessibility of all vehicles by 2003, he said that it put everything on to a level playing pitch.