PROPOSALS FORWARDED TO MINISTER DEMPSY

   “Submission on Economic Review”

Submitted by:

Taxi Drivers For Change

Incorporating:

Athlone Taxi association

Borders Midland West Taxi drivers Federation

Carlow/Kildare Taxi association

IWU Cork Taxi driver’s branch

Clondalkin Taxi association

Donegal Taxi association

Dundalk Taxi drivers association

Galway Taxi association

Kilkenny Taxi association

Killarney Taxi association

Mullingar Taxi association

Navan Taxi drivers

Portlaoise Taxi association

Taxi Drivers For Change

Tralee Taxi association

Taxi Federation

Wexford Taxi drivers association

Taxi Drivers for Change

Framework Submission

“Change for the better”

Introduction

Taxi Drivers for Change came together as a grass roots pressure and lobby group in January 2009.  As a direct result of the chaos present in the taxi industry ordinary taxi drivers took to the streets and made their voices heard.

The campaign has progressed to include support from up to 3,500 taxi drivers in the Dublin/Leinster region and most of the associations from the cities and towns around the country (listed).

This document was suggested at a conference hosted by Taxi Drivers For Change held in on the 19^th of March 2009 attended by 37 delegates and representing the opinions of estimated up to 15,000 taxi drivers nationwide.  The proposal to assemble this document was voted through by the majority of the conference. The finished document was presented to 200 delegates representing over 15000 drivers nationwide on the 16/04/09 at the transport club in Crumlin, where it was accepted as mandated by a majority of the meeting.

So why did Taxi Drivers feel the necessity to put together their own solutions? Historically proposals prior to deregulation suggested that 350 extra licenses be granted per year.  Had this happened we would presently have approx 9,000 PSV vehicles made up of 3,500 hackneys and in excess of 5,000 taxis which, aligned to a proper public transport policy, would approximate demand today. However, the situation we have today is to the other extreme. There are now 27,400 plus licensed public service vehicles nationally, but there are 47,000 licensed drivers nationally with 3,500 people (source Garda Carriage office) awaiting the SPSV test. So where are the 19,600 licensed drivers not being accounted for by licensed vehicles?  Well this is where the” Churning” effect is happening. Driving license holders are passing their test, renting cars from fleet suppliers, renting plates for their owned cars or “cosying” i.e. renting shifts on existing licensing. They then find out, after a short experience, that their newly chosen career is not sustainable and so leave and that opens the door to the next optimistic new taxi driver hence the “churning” effect in the industry. We are sure this can be clarified by confirmation with the fleet suppliers and consultation with the industry.  We have already consulted and are convinced that this is the case.

Taxi drivers further believe that the present regulatory system has failed them. Since the establishment of the Taxi Regulation Commission in 2004, this office has singularly failed to engage in a positive fashion with the taxi industry. To date, no meetings have been conducted in an industrial negotiation context but rather “edicts” have been handed down and the taxi industry is left with no choice but to accept them.

The lack of an appeals process, the fact that representatives on the taxi advisory board are outnumbered four to one and the fact that the Oireachtas sub committee on transport are generally ignored by the Commission for Regulation, leaves the industry feeling angry, alienated and unrepresented to such a degree that they have no faith in the Taxi Regulation Commission. Any regulatory body is obliged to act on behalf of the industry it is responsible for, as well as the consumers availing of the services provided by that industry and our comparison with other regulatory bodies, like the Communications Regulatory, Comm Reg or The Energy Regulator, the Taxi Regulation Commission is failing in its duties and is not fit for purpose.  Some examples are the introduction of medical kits which drivers are unqualified to use, the removal of taximeter areas which make the industry impossible to police with drivers that are not licensed in an area operating with impunity, and the fact that An Garda Siochana have little involvement with policing regulations in the industry leaving 9 enforcement officers policing an industry of 47,000 licensed drivers. There is now a situation whereby an estimated 40% of the industry is operating on a part time basis with most of these people already in full time pensionable employment, often employed by the State.  While there may have been a case for part time employment in the industry in the past, with the present economic downturn, there most definitely is little requirement for it now.

From a competition point of view, how is it possible for full time taxi drivers to compete on a level playing pitch when most of their competitors have an alternative income and whose tax clearance certificates are based on their full time employment as opposed to their taxi business income which also deprives the State of revenue. The Revenue Commissioners do not know that they have Taxi licences!

So what is the Regulation Commissions’ view for the future of the taxi industry?  It appears that the direction the Regulators view is taking for the future will be based on the Goodbody review of the small public service vehicle industry which was published on 9 March 2009.

The Goodbody report states many inaccuracies and discrepancies. The general outline seems to be that the industry is in an acceptable condition with the Commission for Taxi Regulation doing a fine job. The following key points are closer to the truth:

1.         The economic data contained in the report was, on admission to TDFC by Mr Bernard Feeney, compiled in the third quarter of 2008 and is out of date by eight months. The economic climate has deteriorated hugely since then with reverse migration taking place and an ever increasing entry into a rapidly declining market.

2.         The report states that there is no economic justification for a moratorium on the issuing of new licenses. This although the economy has declined drastically since the economic data was compiled.

3.         Goodbody states that “the only factor that would justify a moratorium would be an economic decline accompanied by excessive churning in the industry”. Both of these situations we believe are evident today.

4.         The report has no criticisms of the Commission for Taxi Regulation despite the author agreeing with us that the situation regarding enforcement of the industry was unacceptable with only 9 enforcers and also the fact that the qualative standards were not being put in place fast enough. The qualative standard issue should have been addressed at least 18 months ago when the industry started to experience problems.

5.         The income of drivers is stated at the higher assumed levels, where it should be assumed at the lower levels, where it would be proven that taxi drivers income are below the minimum wage. Goodbody did not consult with the Revenue Commissioners to confirm taxi driver’s income but rather used an in-house survey of 2,000 people with only 571 returning the survey.  It was not indicated by Goodbody whether these people were full time or part time in the industry so as far as we are concerned the data is open to question.  Our own survey indicated that drivers are earning substantially less than the minimum wage which is unsustainable. This leads TDFC to believe an amount of “cherry picking” was conducted within the surveys.  Goodbody stated “they found it difficult to obtain data relating to drivers incomes”.

6.         Goodbody also agreed that irrational entry and exit of entrants to the industry could be occurring because of the lack of research by new entrants of the market. This means that new entrants to the industry are suffering a lack of rmation on the real conditions within the market and are therefore making poor decisions on entering it.  Once they have invested in entering the market, drivers find it unsustainable, but are unable to retrieve their investment and are persevering with the hope that conditions will improve.  Taxi licences are trading at €4,100 on the open market at present and the SIMI report that car sales are down so new entrants find themselves with little alternative choice.

7.         The impression the Goodbody report gives is that the industry is best served on a part time basis.  Therefore, the public should be happy that a taxi driver is working 40 hours in their full time employment and a further 30/40 hours driving a taxi per week. If this situation is allowed to be the direction that the industry goes in, it is only a matter of time before disaster strikes.  Already taxi drivers are working in excess of 70 hours per week and no one has pointed out the public and driver safety issues this situation presents. An Garda Siochana tells us that we are more dangerous driving tired than driving under the influence of alcohol.  The National Road Safety Authority is presently reviewing the Goodbody report and we await their comments with interest.

8.         Full time drivers only get 27% of the available market from Sunday through Thursday and are left to compete with an increase of 40% plus of competitors to try and achieve an income. This, on top of the fact that prior to the economic decline over the last six months, the number of taxis in Dublin increased by 297% while market demand only increased by 82%.

9.         Overall TDFC and its supporters feel that the theme of the report is to support and justify the existence of the Taxi Regulation Commission and its offices. The public and driver safety issues have been ignored and no regard has been given to the circumstances that full time taxi drivers are experiencing at the moment. 

What is needed to address the problems?

•     An end to part time Taxi drivers who can survive quite well on their full time salaries.

•     No more illegal operators coming in from other areas to work in areas that they are not licensed to.

•     A crack down on illegal operators who are taking advantage of the lax enforcement abilities of the Regulators office to take advantage of our business by reinstating the Carriage office and utilising An Garda Siochana traffic corps. Appointment of local Dept of Transport inspectors to have responsibility for the Taxi industry in their licensing area.

•    An urgent review of available rank space in all Cities and Towns. At this time drivers are being continually harassed by the Gardai for plying for hire illegally. The Gardai are doing their job, but so are Taxi drivers. When Taxi drivers bought their licences, in good faith, they did not expect to have to pay fines every day just to work. The Gardai have more important work to do and Taxi drivers need to earn their living. Consultation and assessment of requirements with local authorities and interested parties should be conducted and actioned immediately based on market requirements.

•    The resignation of the Taxi Regulation Commissioner and the abolishment of the office of the Taxi Regulation Commission.        Since its inception in 2003 and its commissioning in 2004 this office has achieved nothing for the full time Taxi driver in or for the paying Public. In fact this office has endangered the travelling public’s safety, trust and driver safety.

•     To prevent candidates from entering the industry without having first proven themselves to be people of the suitability required by the public and industry interest.

•     To negotiate our own position and have an appeals process which allows the industry to do so.

•     To get a cap on new licences while we correct the mistakes of Kathleen Doyle and Her predecessor Ger Deering

•     To safe guard the Public's interest and that of the drivers

•     To earn a fair days wage for a fair days work

Entry level requirements

The entry requirements to the Taxi industry at present do not address many of the requirements needed to provide a professional service that the public can feel safe with. Background checks, licence verification, area and route knowledge, language fluency and health and safety issues need to be urgently addressed when individuals decide to enter the Taxi industry. TDFC propose the following solutions to these issues.

•     Entry exam need to be improved and include detailed test for area of operation.  Written AND PRACTICAL tests need to be included to ensure knowledge of area. Language and general aptitude skills need to be assured before licence qualifies

•     Three month full time course (estimated time required) to be implemented to train new entrants in safety procedures, health and safety, route knowledge, driver and passenger safety procedures, marketing your business, business management and car maintenance, financial management, taxation compliance, and other industry requirements. Most drivers in the industry today have this knowledge and have had to accumulate it at their own expense which is an investment in their business and this should be acknowledged

•     New entrants must have held a full Irish driving licence, with no endorsements, for five years. The licence should not have been exchanged as is the rule in most well developed economies where there are good Taxi industries

•     For Public safety, new entrants should have a full clean verifiable record which can be verified by internationally accepted criteria, e.g. Interpol, National police authorities and An Garda Siochana.

•     New entrants will be making a significant investment in the industry and therefore should be available to service the public requirement on a full time basis to gain the maximum return for their investment. We know that this requirement needs to be at least forty hours per week and the public interest is best served by a full time professional service

•     It is ridiculous that a student on a J2 visa has the ability to gain a taxi licence to work in the taxi industry.  No student of any nationality should be allowed to hold an SPSV licence.

•     All new entrants to the Taxi industry should have to supply a new vehicle. This will ensure that the entrant will have researched the market correctly and will have ensured that their newly chosen career will be sustainable.

•     Minimum entry age level should be 23 years of age

Vehicles/Licensing

There are many problems with the present licensing system. At the moment it is widely known that people operating in the industry on a part time basis are doing so using tax clearance certificates from their full time occupations. This means they are unlikely to be making returns on their taxi incomes which is illegal and unfair competition to full time drivers. The present national licence numbering system makes it impossible for both ourselves as an industry and more importantly the public to know if the taxi being used is actually licensed to operate in that area. There is also many taxis being operated illegally either by unlicensed drivers or by cloned taxis which are a further danger to the public. This is a public safety issue and TDFC propose the following measures should be put in place immediately to address these problems.    

•     Cost of plates should be aligned to inflation and backdated

•     Tax clearance certificates to contain PRSI/PAYE, licence plate numbers and smart card numbers

•     Statutory law requiring non EU or Irish nationals to lodge a bond or deposit of €300,000 to start a business in must be implemented

•     Employees of the Civil and public services who presently own Taxi licences are operating illegally and should therefore forfeit their plates for the present market value of €6,300

•     Window I.D. (Daisies) to be enlarged and colour coded indicating area that vehicle is licensed to operate in i.e.

•     Roof sign should indicate area of licensing i.e. = D12345 Louth = LH12344 Cork = C12343 etc

•     It is proposed that the registration plate should correspond to the licence plate and furthermore identify the vehicle as a licensed taxi, so every licensed Taxi would be identifiable and part timers would not be able to hide, e.g. Licence says DL98765 then registration plate must say TDL98765. The Registration plate identifies the vehicle as a taxi even if the plate is not on the car

•     The licensed vehicle should have a permanently affixed plate indicating the area that it is licensed to operate in e.g.

•     In car ID to be enlarged and improved with bar coding so that Police agencies have ability to check accurately

•     Illegal operators to be policed more vigilantly and cars to be confiscated with drivers having their licenses revoked immediately

•     Section 36 to be implemented

•     One licence, one driver for one area only. Exception to be pre bookings only

•     A buy back scheme should be implemented to allow ease of departure and access to the industry. Licences should be bought back by the relevant Authorities at market prices so that people in the trade can gain an exit and entrants can enter the Industry. Licenses should not be transferable except in case of death whereby the value of said licence is passed on to next of kin through the relevant authority.

•     There should be incentives for those that are mindful of the environment that allows them to participate in the green economy. When Drivers decide to buy low emission and Hybrid cars they should be rewarded for their social responsibility and get tax breaks, VAT discounts or personal tax credits. Special attention should be given to those that look after the disadvantaged and less mobile of our society and who are community focused

•     SPSV licences to be renewed every three years

Enforcement

The enforcement of taxi regulations need to be addressed urgently. It is unacceptable to the public safety interest that there are only 9 officers with responsibility of making sure all 21,500 taxis are meeting the standards required by law. TDFC propose the following solutions to ensuring a safe professional taxi service. 

•     Responsibility for standards and regulations to rest with the Department of Transport and its regional inspectors.

•     Policing of the industry to return to the carriage office and also An Garda Siochana Traffic Corps.

•     Technology to be used so the Gardai can get real time rmation when checking the legality of Taxis.

•     Insurance certificates and discs to state clearly that the policy is a Taxi one.

•     We need to have a clear and transparent appeals process which allows the industry and its individual members the opportunity to input into decisions being made on their behalf.

•     PSV drivers in general to have an extra allowance of penalty points for the amount of time spent on the road.

•     The Taxi industry must be able to negotiate its position and therefore will need access to the relevant authorities with responsibility for the industry.

Working conditions

Current working conditions do not take into account the public or drivers safety. It is unacceptable in any society that we should have to work in excess of 70 hours per week to earn a living wage. It is also unacceptable that the public we serve should be endangered by being made to accept this situation. TDFC propose the following solutions be put in place to address working conditions.

•     Drivers should be able to achieve the average industrial wage for a reasonable working week (45 to 50 hours). Fare increments should reflect this and be regularly reviewed, compared to market conditions and be linked to inflation

•     Appropriate rank spaces specific to the needs of the industry and the market to be assessed immediately by the appropriate authorities and put in place. All new developments retail and industrial to include on a compulsory basis ranks appropriate to requirement

•     Pick up and baggage charges to be reinstated and included for all transport hubs nationwide

•     Drivers safety and welfare concerns to be considered on an equal footing with those of the consumer

•     Local issues to be dealt with on a local basis but all drivers need to be able to feel confident that their voices are being heard on a national footing

Industry incentives

Professional taxi drivers are proud of their industry and the contribution they make to society. At the moment there is no recognition given to taxi drivers for that contribution. TDFC propose that the following would go some way to addressing this.

•     The safety of passengers and drivers is of the utmost importance

•     There should not be any government grants to assist individuals to enter the industry this is unfair competition to those of us that have invested our own money in the industry

•    VRT and VAT exemption when buying vehicles so we can update the fleet. The Government are making enough from the industry through indirect taxation, fuel, servicing, insurance etc

•     Drivers need to have access to social welfare services, allowances and pension rights

•     Training courses in first aid, health and safety, consumer issues, self defence etc to be paid for with the funds presently resting in the regulators account and a grandfather rule to apply

•     A replacement car franchise to be set up on a national basis to allow us continue to work while our cars are off the road. Criteria to be that if you rent a car you must be a plate licence holder. Regulatory requirement to produce licence when renting a vehicle

•     Access to an awards standard course whereby if we strive to provide a better service there is a reward i.e. the Q mark or the ISO standard mark