The Government is insisting that deregulation of the taxi industry will go ahead despite threats of legal action by drivers. The orders setting standards for the issuing of new licences are due to be made early next week.
However, there appeared last night to be some differences between the Government partners on the pace of the change. Fianna Fail was pointing to possible obstacles which might cause delays, while the PDs were pushing ahead.
The Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy of the PDs, has told The Irish Times that, all going according to plan, an extra 700 taxis could be on the streets before Christmas.
The move will devalue existing licences. However, Mr Molloy said there was no provision whereby the State was obliged to compensate existing licence holders. There are currently over 2,700 taxi licences in Dublin.
The general secretary of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, Mr Tommy Gorman, said that if the new orders contained nothing to satisfy the drivers, they would not go bankrupt but would take out an injunction against the Government.
"We have never sought compensation but we wanted a situation in place where we could work with Minister Molloy and the local authorities and keep people in jobs, as well as giving a proper service to the public. He never consulted us on this," said Mr Gorman. He added that protests would be considered.
In the meantime, he said, they were continuing with their Supreme Court action challenging the High Court ruling that the Government had no power to confine the issuing of new licences to holders of existing taxi licences. The appeal was lodged yesterday morning.
The Attorney General, Mr McDowell, is currently considering the orders which will set standards for the new licences. The orders are due to be made early next week. According to a Government spokesman, the matter should be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Mr Molloy said regulations covering taxi fares will remain.
The president of SIPTU, Mr Des Geraghty, said the Government should enter into a "constructive dialogue" with the representative organisation of the taxi industry.
"Nothing in that judgment should preclude a resolution of all the issues, through a social partnership approach which respects the needs of the public for a top-class taxi service and the rights of the workers in the industry to fair play and dialogue," he said.
Some Fianna Fail members felt yesterday that the problem of wheelchair accessibility might cause delays in the issuing of new licences. However, Mr Molloy said that while it had not yet been decided how many of the new licences issued would have this stipulation, this would not be a cause of delay.
The situation would be under continuous review and new regulations covering areas such as this could be introduced as they were needed, he explained.
The deregulation was welcomed by the business community, including the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the employers' body, IBEC.
The chairman of the Competition Authority, Mr John Fingleton, said it was unfortunate that it had taken so long to move on something which was so "glaringly obvious". Employment in the taxi industry would grow hugely as the market expanded, he said.
Mr Molloy said the Government acknowledged that the move would totally devalue current taxi licences, some of which had been bought for up to £90,000. The Government had attempted to ensure that people would not suffer financially through the plan, announced last year, to introduce 2,700 new licences in the capital, offering one new licence to each person who currently has one.
Mr Gorman said that, as a protest, taxi sharing had been suspended by drivers in the capital for this weekend.