The financial loss to taxi licence owner Mr Tony Robinson and his family as a result of taxi deregulation is close to £1 million, the Dublin man has told The Irish Times.
There are, he said, 11 taxi plates in his immediate family, in a business which started 11 years ago. "Naturally, I am a bit perturbed about it all," he said, adding that he had bought his first plate for £42,000 and the most recent one for over £80,000.
Dublin Corporation administers taxi licences for itself and the three other local authorities - Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin County Council.
According to the register of taxi licence holders which Dublin Corporation holds, Mr Robinson and his family are the second-largest number of licence holders. The largest, with 14 licences, are the Rogers family.
According to the register, there are 2,721 taxi licences in Dublin, held by 2,644 people, meaning only 77 licences are officially in multiple ownership.
There have long been rumours of links between Fianna Fail and taxi licences. No TD's name is on the list. However, there is no way of knowing whether all the named owners on the register are the beneficial owners of the licences. The overwhelming majority of licences are in the name of individuals.
Mr Robinson is unimpressed with the Government's proposals to convert the cost of existing taxi licences into tax breaks, because he believes the breaks are inadequate. "I feel very sorry for the people who have mortgaged their homes, that's a scandalous situation. I think Bobby Molloy got it very wrong. It is all right for me, I have made my money now, but it is my children who inherit who will be affected," he said.
Mr Robinson said he did not support any particular political party. He had given donations of £100 or £200 in the past. He had transferred the taxi licences from his name last year when it was proposed that taxi numbers would be increased through each existing licences holder getting one additional licence.
Those holding a number of licences would still only receive one extra, so Mr Robinson said they were transferred to different family members. Dublin Corporation charges u£100 for a transfer within a family, compared to u£3,000 for those on the open market.
The family with the most plates in Dublin, according to the register, are the Rogers. Mr Bill Rogers and his sister Lisa are co-directors of the companies founded by their father, Terry, who is now deceased. Mr Rogers said their 14 licences were owned by family members and divided between Terry Rogers and Sons, Metro Cabs, and Terry Rogers & Sons Enterprises Ltd.
Mr Rogers described this week's deregulation as "very disheartening". "The news is worse for the people with one licence than for me, it is their sole reliance and my father wisely invested in other businesses.
"I don't have a business in the taxi trade any more. Before December last year I would say the average price of a plate was touching u £90,000; now the value is less than u£5,000 per plate," he said.
He suggested the Government introduce a compulsory purchase scheme for taxi licences, where it would pay around u£70,000 and taxi drivers could lease them back. The scheme should be open to all licence holders.
"You can't treat people differently. Some people have their licences longer than others but over the years because of the market the Government created, the men came to rely on the licence as an asset for their children and as a pension."
Mr Rogers said his father had traditionally been a Fianna Fail supporter but the only politician they had carried advertising for on their taxis was Mr Sean Loftus.