Over 400 applicants for a taxi driver licence have had their application refused by gardaí in the past five years after they were deemed to be unfit for the job, new figures have revealed.
However, 54 of the 131 people - or more than one in three - who appealed the Garda decision between 2001 and 2005 have since had this decision overturned in the courts.
Some 33 saw their appeal fail, while the outcome of a further 39 appeals are either unaccounted for or were withdrawn. Five are still pending.
The figures were released to Labour party spokeswoman on transport Róisín Shortall in a written Dáil reply by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. A spokesman for the Garda carriage office was unavailable to comment on the criteria used by gardaí in determining whether someone is fit to have a public service vehicle licence allocated or renewed.
But among the areas outlined in the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, for disqualification from holding a licence are sexual, drugs trafficking, money laundering, theft, fraud and firearms offences. More serious crimes such as murder or manslaughter lead to an automatic ban under the legislation, which has yet to be fully commenced.
Ms Shortall said many parents were concerned that there was a lack of adequate controls on the taxi industry here .
"I think there is genuine public concern regarding the safety of taxis, particularly in view of the fact that it is so easy to get into the industry now," she said.
"People cannot get through to the carriage office if they do have concerns regarding a taxi driver. It has seen its staff levels actually reduced in recent years."
"Section 36 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 allows for anybody convicted of serious crimes to be banned from driving a taxi...it should be brought into force immediately."
The figures do not state how many people applied for a public service vehicle licence between 2001 and 2005.
However, during that time - and following deregulation - the number of taxis has grown from 8025 to 15,686 nationwide .
Around 10,000 of these are located in the Dublin area.
There are a further 6,100 hackney and limousines nationwide.
Last night the president of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, Tommy Gorman, expressed concern that individuals were able to overturn the decision of the gardaí in the courts.
He said the union had "always felt" that gardaí were the best people to vet applicants for the licence. But he pointed out that the licences only relate to individuals looking to drive a taxi.
"There is a big difference between owning a plate and a licence, anyone can own a taxi plate . .. there are no vetting procedures, these only come in when you wish to drive the taxi."
However, the taxi regulator, Ger Deering, welcomed the statistics, and pointed out that appeals were being "carefully considered" in public.
"I think it is significant . . . it shows the system is working and gardaí are vetting applications thoroughly," he said. "It will always be the case that vetting is done by the gardaí."