To those that may be concerned about this, in particular those in the Irish Department of Transport, and especially taxi drivers/owners around Europe.
On Friday 14th of April 2011 I went to work at about eight a.m. At 3 pm I had earned thirty three euro. Thats not unusual, it is very rapidly becoming the norm. I just could not take anymore and I decided to make this video.
I started at 15.05 and finished at about 15.48, when the cameras battery ran out.
It clearly shows exactly what is happening on the city centre streets of Dublin on a Friday afternoon, traditionally one of the busiest times for taxi work.
In the video there are two cars moving off ranks with passengers in them. From all the taxis parked and driving around Dublin city centre, in a 45 minute period, there were 2 jobs. I know there may have been more, but the reality is, thats what my camera recorded randomly, and driving a taxi is very much subject random decisions by passengers to take a taxi or not.
The camera was on my dashboard, and I could not point it at anything, where the car went, the camera pointed. The exception being the Molly Malone when I was stopped at traffic lights, and I only did that to show the illegal rankers in the loading bay had lots of legally parked cars on the Molly Malone rank, to compete with.
I understand the situation is much the same around the country.
I tried to video Friday night to show that level of chaos there is on the streets, but the video is too dark and is useless for viewers.
The video has been speeded up by 800 percent for a number of reasons, but mainly due to Youtube limitations.
I will put the original file on a CD and send it to the relevant persons in the Department of Transport, might even deliver it to Leo,s clinic in person.
Either way I would not hold my breath waiting for any kind of improvements in the taxi industry in Ireland.
The reality is, this situation is soul destroying. Depression and suicide are rampant in the taxi industry. Back problems, and other stress related illnesses are way above the national and international norms. These illnesses are being suffered by people that can not afford to go to Doctors for any proper treatment, as the money they have got is being used to pay for the homes and to feed their children. Taxi drivers regularly borrowing twenty euros off other drivers, to put fuel in their cars.
We know the government line has always been that they do not want passengers queuing for taxis, and the new government is toeing the same line. Why would they think that taxi drivers want passengers to queue, thats ridiculous. In the real world however they do not have any problem with taxi drivers having to queue for hours to get a job. Are we not people too? Do we deserve to have to wait hours for work? Do the men and women that work in this industry, have any less rights than any other citizen? Well it would appear that when it comes to treatment being meted out fairly and equally from the Irish government to Irish taxi drivers, the answer is no. We are treated with absolute contempt.
The department of Transport and the taxi regulators office has the blood of about 40 suicides on their hands, and they do not care. That figure is rising on almost a weekly basis, and still the government will not even show the slightest interest in the welfare of the men and women it calls Public Service Vehicle Drivers.
I also want all European taxi drivers to view this video to see reality on the streets of Dublin. They think they are not deregulated and as such, they should keep their heads down. The facts are that, taxis are deregulated in Ireland and its only a matter of time before big business comes after the taxi industry in your town. Only then will you realise how bad things can get.
One amazing fact is: We can not get the EU, even with al its pro business directives etc, to do anything to help us. It seems the EU rules only apply to big businesses. Irish government subsidies to taxi drivers are permitted so long as they don,t go over seventy thousand euro, free medical services, cheap rent, subsidised rents, cash payouts are all permitted to new entrants, but those of us that invested our own cash in a regulated industry get nothing, no help from anybody, or the so called saviours of Europe, The, EU Commission. Well I,ve news for you all, the EU Commission do not like small business operators.
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10:17
Queuing for a living on Dublins taxi ranks.by dublintaxies417 views
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