Taxi licence-holders who suffered hardship after deregulation have now been invited to apply for funding under the Government-funded Taxi Hardship Payments Scheme.
Payments from €3,000 to €15,000 will be made to taxi-drivers or taxi licence-holders who can show that they suffered "extreme personal financial hardship" following the loss of income arising from deregulation on November 21st, 2000.
Some 2,006 submissions were made by taxi licence-holders to the Taxi Hardship Panel when it was compiling its report last year. The panel said then it was unlikely that all of these licence-holders would be able to substantiate a claim for hardship.
Applicants for the hardship payments must be tax-compliant and fall into one of six categories.
Category 1: Widows, widowers or separated individuals who held a licence on the relevant date, who suffered a reduction in income and who had no other income other than the widows'/widowers' pension or lone parents' allowance.
Category 2: Full-time taxi-drivers, aged over 65 who held a licence on the relevant date and had no other income other than the State pension.
Category 3: Full-time taxi -drivers, aged between 50 and 65 who held a licence on the relevant date and had no other income other than the State pension on retirement.
Category 4: Wheelchair accessible taxi-licence holders who held a wheelchair licence on the relevant date, who had no other income and who could show a reduction in taxi income since deregulation.
Category 5: Full-time taxi-drivers who mortgaged their family homes to buy a licence before deregulation and who had since suffered a reduction in income and were experiencing difficulties repaying the loan.
Category 6: People with disabilities who suffered a reduction in income from renting their taxi licence since deregulation.
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