The number of taxi drivers in the Republic, which fell by nearly half after Ireland’s crash a decade ago, increased last year for the first time in almost a decade, theNew figures published by the NTA show that 26,373 individuals were licensed to drive small public service vehicles , including taxis and hackneys, last year – an annual increase of 3 per cent.
“We hope to continue to recruit members at this level so that the demand for services can continue to be met.”However, the latest figures show that one in 10 of all licence holders at the end of last year were aged 70 years or older. Just 246 taxi drivers were under 30 years.for new entrants to the industry could be over €26,000 per annum.
However, 40 per cent of successful candidates passed on their first attempt, but it took an average of 2.85 tests for the other successful candidates to achieve pass grades mark. Last year, however, the trend was reversed, if only by 1 per cent to 20,753. The NTA particularly welcomed the large increase in wheelchair-accessible vehicles , which rose by 850 in 2014 to 2,115 by the end of 2018.
Over 190,000 mobile checks were carried out on taxi and hackneys last year with inspections on 93 per cent of all licensed vehicles which resulted in a total of 1,878 fines being issued.A third of all fines related to the failure of drivers to comply with the legal requirement to register the vehicle being driven with a central database managed by the NTA.
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Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »