Dublin taxi protests will continue, says SIPTU

Taxi drivers are to continue their protests despite what was described as a positive meeting earlier today with the Department…

Taxi drivers are to continue their protests despite what was described as a positive meeting earlier today with the Department of the Taoiseach.

SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Jerry Brennan told ireland.comthat the protests would continue until the concerns of SIPTU's members were addressed.

The SIPTU drivers are protesting against the apparent decline in standards being applied by the authorities when issuing taxi licences.

SIPTU are also concerned that reports of attacks by drivers, of alleged rapes and other criminal activity are giving an impression to the public that taxis are unsafe and unreliable.

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Mr Brennan said: "What we have now is a chairperson of a taxi commission, not a regulator and not an interim regulator."We will have a meeting next Tuesday with our members who will decide whether to escalate the protests or not," he added.Earlier, SIPTU drivers refused to take passengers between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m at Dublin Airport. Tomorrow the stoppage will be between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., while on Wednesday there will be no service from SIPTU drivers at Dublin Airport, Heuston Station and Busarus between 9 a.m. and 12 noon. On Thursday, the last day of the stoppages this week, there will be no service at Dublin Airport between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

This week's protests follow similar stoppages mounted last week by the taxi drivers.