Today's taxi strike in Dublin would be one of a series of stoppages until the drivers' grievances were addressed, the president of the Irish Taxi-Drivers' Association said yesterday.
Mr John Ussher also admitted that militant elements within the association had pressed for pickets to be placed on Dublin Corporation's cleansing departments to block refuse collection in the city. Last night it was not clear if this might happen. The strike was scheduled to run from 4 a.m. today until 9 p.m.
Drivers were asked to attend a meeting at 5 a.m. outside the GPO in O'Connell Street to consider other actions that might be taken during the day-long protest. Mr Ussher said they could choose to protest at the Department of the Environment, Government Buildings or the Civic Offices at Wood Quay, and possibly all three.
Meanwhile, Dublin Corporation has told The Irish Times that a firm of UK consultants has been appointed by the four local authorities in the city to conduct a review of Dublin's taxi operation.
Oscar Fabre will work along with economists from stockbrokers Goodbody.
The corporation also said taxi-drivers had submitted a claim for a fare increase. This is among the matters the consultants will consider.
Mr Ussher said the association had been informed of the appointment of the consultants but queried the decision of Dublin Corporation and the other local authorities to proceed with increases in the licence fee until they had the consultants' report.
The taxi-drivers are objecting to an increase in the licence fee, which must be renewed every two years, from £100 to £450.
They are also objecting to a fee of £15,000 for 200 new taxis in the Dublin area which must be accessible to wheelchairs.
Dublin Corporation replied that it had 1,000 applications for the 200 new plates, many from existing taxi-drivers.
The corporation's director of traffic told Mr Ussher's association he would consider sympathetically the drivers' objection to the increase in the licence fee in the light of the consultants' conclusions.
"We only heard about that in the last half-hour," Mr Ussher said yesterday evening, adding that it would not be sufficient to prevent the stoppage going ahead.
The licence fee was formerly set by the Department of the Environment but responsibility was devolved to the local authorities. The taxi-drivers want the fee to be set again by the Department but a spokesman for the Department said that as far as the Minister, Mr Dempsey, was concerned, the matter now rested with the local authorities.