PARTS of Cork county are ‘dying’ because people cannot get taxis or hackneys in their area, a Council meeting was told.
Councillors were discussing correspondence received from the Department of Transport in relation to a previous motion by Cllr Sean O’Donovan (FF) calling for the taxi app Uber to be allowed operate in parts of rural Ireland, where there are no taxi services.
County mayor Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) said he wanted to retract his support for the taxi app, after meeting with the taxi association in County Hall who told him Uber drivers are not vetted by gardaí.
‘I had to look at it in a different way and if we do bring in Uber it will open a big can of worms regarding garda vetting,’ said Cllr Collins.
‘But something has to be done as we are dying in parts of Cork county because we cannot get hackneys for people.’ Cllr Collins said applicants applying for a PSV licence would nearly have to have a college degree to pass the exam as it’s so hard.
‘I know of one successful taxi driver in Bantry who told me it took him three times before he passed the test. They have silly questions on this exam and they have to be simplified.’
He welcomed the roll-out of the local hackney pilot scheme but said he sees it for himself, that people are not going out to eat or drink. ‘They are telling me they can’t get a spin home at the end of the night.’
Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said this issue is affecting tourism in West Cork ‘big time’ during the summer and has huge implications for the local economies. ‘We have people staying in houses a few miles outside towns but they can’t get out of the town on a weekend night as there are no taxis.
They may decide not to come back as they are unable to socialise,’ said Cllr Carroll.
‘It has serious implications for the tourism business in rural Ireland. One man I know who wanted to get a PSV licence was being asked about roads in Cork city, when he wouldn’t even be going
there.’
Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) supported the call and said she had to drive to Kinsale at 2am last weekend to pick someone up as there were no taxis.
Her colleague, Cllr Sean O’Donovan said his motion was about providing a regulated service for people in rural Ireland where someone could do a couple of hours work and get paid for it.
‘I had taxi drivers onto me accusing me of putting their jobs in jeopardy and that’s not what it is.
This is for where there are no taxi services in rural areas,’ said Cllr O’Donovan.
