The Government should take immediate steps to deregulate the taxi regime in Dublin and all other urban centres, according to Fine Gael.
Following a meeting of the party's front bench yesterday, the deputies were strongly critical of the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, for his "bungled attempt" to give existing taxi-licence holders an extra 3,000 licences.
They were commenting after the High Court judgment earlier this week which found the Government had no power to limit the supply of taxis.
"This spectacular piece of Government ineptitude has had the effect of freezing the supply of any extra taxis for over 12 months and undermining a vital element of a proper public transport system for Dublin and other urban centres."
The meeting condemned the "litany of collusion, delays and bungling" which has characterised the Government's handling of the taxi regime in Dublin and elsewhere over the past 3 1/2 years.
"It was Bertie Ahern himself who first set the agenda for the Government's inept handling of the Dublin transport crisis, when he personally sponsored a disgraceful foot-dragging exercise for a vested interest through the establishment of the Taoiseach's Taxi Forum in 1997."
The statement said that by pandering to the taxi lobby rather than putting the needs of the travelling public first, the Taoiseach had ensured that another Christmas would pass when thousands of commuters would be stranded because of an inadequate supply of taxis and other late-night public transport services.
The Government, it said, had shown itself unwilling and unable to tackle the transport crisis in Dublin city.
"Dublin is now suffering from a crisis of government, where there is now no political will to take on the vested interests and give the city a 21st century public transport system. "Neither is there an understanding of the depth of the transport crisis and the hugely detrimental effect it is having on the quality of life for Dublin's citizens."