DUBLIN City Council will tonight debate a proposal to issue an additional 200 taxi licences. Substantial fee increases for the renewal of taxi and hackney licences will also be discussed.
The proposals are contained in the report of a council working group under the chairmanship of Fine Gael councillor Mr Brendan Brady.
The report recommends that the extra taxi licences should cost £25,000 each, "in order to maintain, to some extent, the resale value of existing licences and to that the holders of the new available for a greater number of hours each week in order to recoup the cost of the licence."
It proposes that regular reviews of the demand for extra taxis be undertaken over the next four years with a view of issuing 100 licences annually, if required.
The fee for the renewal of taxi licences should be increased from £100 to £1,000 and from £50 to £500 for hackney licences, the report argues. New hackney licences would go up from £100 to £750.
A customers' charter is also recommended.
The report notes that a survey carried out on December 15th 16th last year showed that the number of taxis available at any one time was inadequate and at times "grossly inadequate".
The Irish Taxi Federation has argued against issuing more licences, claiming that while there are delays at peak periods there would not be enough work at other times. The Marine Port and General Workers' Union, which represents hackney drivers, has also rejected the proposals.
