THE DUBLIN Airport Authority has advised passengers travelling to the airport this morning to take account of possible disruption caused by a taxi drivers’ protest.
However, Siptu has said their protest, from 7am to 11am, will not disrupt traffic.
The union, which has just over 2,000 taxi driver members, said 30 drivers will protest at two access roads to the airport; on a traffic island close to the main airport roundabout and at the old airport road, the R132.
No cars will be involved and drivers will not stand on the road, the union said. A spokeswoman for the DAA said they would monitor the situation closely.
“It is difficult to tell at this stage how the protest will impact, but we are not expecting too much disruption,” she said.
She advised passengers to listen to radio traffic bulletins for updates and factor in the need for possible extra travel time into their journey. The taxi drivers’ protest is part of a campaign to highlight the need for an appeals process in the industry. Drivers are also calling for a moratorium on the issuing of taxi licences.
Siptu branch organiser Jerry Brennan said they would like to appeal recent decisions made by the Commission for Taxi Regulation, but have nowhere to go.
For example, he said, drivers must carry a first aid kit in their vehicles, but they have no training in first aid and the regulator has made no provision to provide training. He said drivers could be sued if they used the first aid kit incorrectly. “It is a ridiculous situation,” he said.
Taxi drivers are also concerned at the number of licences being issued, Mr Brennan said, with approximately 27,500 taxis on the roads in the Republic.
“People are buying cars and paying the commission €6,390 for a licence with the legitimate expectation that they will earn a living,” he said. “Then they find when they go out the ranks are full; there are less than 800 rank spaces in Dublin.”
If drivers do stop to rest, they may be fined €250 by commission enforcement officers for plying for hire in an undesignated area, he added.
He said the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport had recommended a moratorium on new licences, but Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey had said he would not contemplate it.
“Since the regulator was set up, successive Ministers have done a Pontius Pilate on this,” Mr Brennan said. “It is time drivers were listened to.”