A decline in taxi numbers is the result of a "general neglect" of the industry, a taxi representative organisation has warned.

New figures from the NTA show a 3.5% decline in taxi numbers in Ireland since 2019.

A decline was found in 23 counties during this time - with a 26% drop in taxi numbers in Monaghan the most significant.

Just Limerick, Kerry and Dublin saw an increase in numbers over the last five years.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, reporter Josh Crosbie set out to find out what is behind the decline.

Money

Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann Chair David McGuiness told him it is because taxi drivers are finding it increasingly difficult to make money.

“I remember the days you used to be able to come out and know you’d make money, now you come out and hope you make money,” he said.

“If I was a young person starting off today, I wouldn’t be able to buy a house, it would just be so hard.”

Taxis parked in Dublin City Centre on New Year’s Eve in Dublin. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews

Mr McGuiness said it's down to “general neglect” of the taxi industry.

“One of the policies that led to a depreciation in the number of taxi drivers was the removal of the transferability of your taxi plate,” he said.

“You buy the taxi sign, buy the licence, and what you were told nine years ago is ‘it’s not really yours’ – you are just renting it year on year.

“You can’t build up a business and pass it on to your children, your nieces or nephews, so when you die it’s the end of that industry.

“What you’re doing now is working for a wage and I don’t see how we’re going to attract younger people into the industry with that.”

Hospitality impacts

Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) chief Adrian Cummins told Josh the fall in taxi numbers is having an impact on the hospitality industry.

"Our customers find it hard to get to our premises and get home at night safely and soundly on door-to-door service.

“When we drill down into the data, predominantly it's single women who want a door-to-door service.

“What we want to do is make sure nobody has any excuse, other than using proper public transport, to be able to have a drink and get home safely.”

'Old school'

Dublin taxi driver of 30 years Paul O’Dowd said he wants things to go back to the “old school” days.

“I’d like it to go back to times when people could go to a rank and get a cab,” he said.

“They’re getting rid of our ranks, we used to have nine here and now [in Dublin city centre] we only have four or five.

“I don’t know what they expect, they want people to have taxis but they can’t get them.”

There are 26,360 taxis operating in Ireland now – a drop of over 1,000 on the 27,393 that were operating in 2019.

Main image: A taxi rank in Dublin city centre. Image: Andrew Michael / Alamy Stock Photo