Uber is set to expand its presence in the Irish market by launching a trial version of its ride-sharing service.
“We will not be launching a product in Ireland called UberPop,” head of policy for EMEA Mark MacGann said.
UberPop allows casual vetted drivers to use the app to offer people lifts for money - without being a licensed taxi driver. This service has been causing controversy across Europe, and provoked aggressive protests in France last summer. It plans to launch an alternative version of the service in Ireland.
Michael Noonan announced during a speech at the Limerick Chamber business awards last week that Uber Ireland's MD had told him that 400 jobs will be created by the company in Limerick - rather than 300 jobs as it had previously announced.
He continued to say that Uber is considering expanding its presence in the city.
The start-up has been in discussions with Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe and a number of city councils regarding the launch of a ride sharing app.
Uber plans to trial the service in the west or south of Ireland - Mr MacGann has described these areas as a “transport desert”.
“We will be bringing a ride sharing service to Ireland,” he confirmed.
“Benefits become tangible, not theoretical” when the scheme is tried in new regions, he added.
The company's entry into the Irish market has been smooth, but its offerings have been closer to those of traditional taxi services - not ride sharing.
It hopes to have a ride sharing trial in operation before Christmas.
The company argues that it is not competing with taxi drivers - saying that it is part of a cultural shift away from private car ownership, which will lead to an increase in the size of the overall taxi and car hire sectors.
The General Manager of Uber Ireland, Kieran Harte, recently spoke to Newstalk's Down to Business about the regulatory difficulties that the company has faced in Europe:
"There's certainly some regulation about not driving for hire or reward. It probably needs a bit of clarification in terms of what that means for ride sharing. That's the term we use for the models that are not licensed taxis or licensed private vehicles.
"One of the challenges for us as a company is we're spreading extremely quickly across the world. We enter markets where regulations are a little bit of a patchwork - written before the advent of mobile phones, let alone smartphones."
