Sir, - As a Labour councillor who has always sought to increase the city's taxi fleet and as one who works in the rehabilitation area, I wish to explain the reasons for Dublin City Council's recommendation that the taxis for which 400 new licences have recently been agreed and for which all further licences are issued should be wheelchair accessible.
Despite our making available 50 licences for such taxis (at £100 each) in 1992, people with disabilities find that they cannot book one. This is because the small size of the fleet precludes taxi companies from restricting their use to those who need them most. As a result, wheelchair users have to turn down jobs because they cannot travel to stations, airports, hospitals, colleges etc. in the course of their business, as the rest of us can. This is a civil rights issue. People whose mobility or vision is impaired are estimated to represent between 10 and 15 per cent of the population, a proportion which is rising as people live longer.
Regulations now require public buildings to be accessible to people with disabilities. The Government has accepted the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, which recommended that all public transport should be similarly accessible. CIE has started and (I hope) will accelerate a programme to make buses, trains and stations accessible to wheelchair users. Taxis are an especially important part of the public transport system for people with disabilities, because many of them require door-to-door conveyance.
I do not accept that cost is an impediment to taxi companies and co-operatives assuming their responsibilities. While vehicles that meet the accessible criteria cost in the region of £20,000 their owners pay a much lower taxi licence fee than the market rate and they can carry more passengers. - Yours, etc.,
Grove Road, Dublin 6.