Report of the

Taxi Hardship Panel

The Nature and Extent of Extreme Personal Financial

Hardship resulting from the liberalisation of the Taxi

Industry on 21 November, 2000.

Presented to the Minister for Transport, Mr Séamus Brennan, T.D.

September 2002

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Table of Contents

Glossary…………….i Foreword……………ii Background..................................................................................................................................1 Government action ......................................................................................................................1 Establishment and remit of panel ..............................................................................................4 Panel membership.......................................................................................................................5 Advertisement of establishment of the panel...........................................................................6 Submissions received.................................................................................................................7 Key themes of submissions received .......................................................................................8 Financial hardship .......................................................................................................................8 Other consequences of financial hardship...............................................................................8 Relationship/family difficulties...................................................................................................9 Health problems...........................................................................................................................9 Concerns for the future.............................................................................................................10 Further concerns .......................................................................................................................10 Categories defined ....................................................................................................................11 Category 1 - widows/separated................................................................................................11 Category 2 - persons over 65 years.........................................................................................11 Category 3 - aged 50-65 years and with no pension plan .....................................................12 Category 4 - wat operators claiming higher operating costs................................................12 Category 5 - under 50 years, reduced income, large loan repayments ...............................12 Category 6 - capital value claims, multiple licences, additional income .............................12 Category 7 - insufficient data supplied. ..................................................................................13 Category 8 - increased hours worked or same hours for reduced income.........................13 Category 9 - invalids..................................................................................................................13 Findings resulting from categorisation...................................................................................14 Notes regarding the breakdown...............................................................................................16 Panel’s views on extreme personal financial hardship .........................................................17 Panel recommendations ...........................................................................................................20 Categories recommended to be considered for payments...................................................20 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................24 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................26

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Glossary

Abbreviations

DoELG Department of the Environment and Local Government

DoT Department of Transport

FAIR Families Advocate Immediate Redress

ITDF Irish Taxi Drivers Federation

NTDU National Taxi Drivers Union

PSV Public Service Vehicle

SIPTU Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union

WAT Wheelchair Accessible Taxi

Terms

Cosy The term cosy is used within the taxi industry to describe a

person who drives a taxi but does not hold a public service

vehicle licence.

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Foreword We were appointed by the then Minister for the Environment and Local

Government on 5 February 2002.

The Panel is now presenting its report in response to the stated terms of

reference.

We would like to thank all those who made submissions to us. We would

particularly like to thank those whom we met face to face - individual taxi

licence holders, as well as the National Taxi Drivers Union (NTDU), the Irish

Taxi Drivers Federation (ITDF), Services, Industrial, Professional and

Technical Union (SIPTU) and Families Advocate Immediate Redress (FAIR).

The Panel members would also like to thank Kevin McCormick, Pauline

Donnelly, Stephen Murphy and Geraldine Norton for providing excellent

support for the Panel’s work and in particular in helping to analyse the large

amount of data we received.

Finally we realise our findings will provoke considerable debate, ranging from

those who believe that no payment of any kind is justified to those who feel

substantial compensation is warranted. It is our view that our

recommendations provide for a fair and final settlement of all grievances that

taxi licencees had as a result of liberalisation.

Bill Attley Kevin Bonner Ann Riordan

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Background

The last Government (1997-2002) addressed the issue of matching taxi

supply and demand in a direct fashion to facilitate consumers in response to

the rapid growth of the economy. The Action Programme for the Millennium

contained a commitment to improving the Dublin taxi service and this was

followed up by an initiative on 30 November 1999 for the issue of 3,100 new

taxi licences in Dublin. The Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles)

(Amendment) Regulations 2000, (S.I. No. 3 of 2000), made to commence

implementation of the initiative, were challenged in the High Court. The

decision of the Court on 13 October 2000 made it clear that limitation of taxi

licences in the interests of existing licence holders was not legally

sustainable1.

Government Action

As a result of the Court case the Government modified its policy approach to

the issue of taxi licensing. New public service vehicle regulations, Road

Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations, 2000 (S.I

No. 367 of 2000), were made on 21 November 2000 with regard to the new

legal situation and to provide for a new system of licensing arrangements.

Under these regulations, no restrictions are allowed on the numbers of new

taxi and wheelchair accessible taxi licences which are granted by local

licensing authorities. The granting of a public service vehicle licence is now

based solely on the need for applicants to meet qualitative requirements.

The Panel is aware that, since 1992, the Courts have clarified on a number of

occasions that there can be no legal duty on the State to compensate taxi

licence holders in relation to open market values of licences. However the

Panel recognises that the Government addressed difficulties which related to

the new taxi regime for some existing taxi licence holders as detailed below.

1 High Court Judicial Review Record Number 38JR/2000

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It was acknowledged by Government that, given the many changes which

were taking place, certain recent new holders of taxi and wheelchair

accessible taxi licences would be in a position of having paid much higher

licence fees to local authorities than those specified in S.I No. 367 of 2000.

Following the making of the regulations providing for liberalisation of

availability of taxi licences, the Government addressed this issue.

Arrangements were put in place for the introduction of a scheme of refunds by

certain local authorities in relation to taxi licence fees charged at above the

default level fixed in the Public Service Vehicles Regulations 1995 (S.I. No.

136 of 1995). Local authorities made refunds under this scheme totalling over

£5 million (€6.35 million). The majority of these refunds were made by Dublin

Corporation (now Dublin City Council).

The Finance Act, 2001, included further mitigating measures and provided for

a new scheme of capital allowances for expenditure incurred on the cost of

taxi licences acquired on or before 21 November 2000. The allowances are

effectively backdated with the cost being deemed to have been incurred on 21

November 1997 where the licence was purchased prior to that date. The

actual cost of the licence can be written off over 5 years at the rate of 20% per

annum in line with the new write-off period for capital allowances for plant and

machinery. The write-off will be allowed against the trading income only of the

licence owner who drives the taxi. However, if additionally, the same vehicle

is rented out on a part-time basis, then the cost can be written off against both

the trading income and the rental income from the vehicle in question.

The Act also includes provisions targeted at addressing some hardship cases

that had been brought to the attention of the Minister for Finance. Section 51

of the Act provides that where a licence was inherited from a deceased

spouse who carried on a taxi trade the licence holder may offset the capital

expenditure incurred on the original acquisition of the licence against the

rental income from the licence, even if there is no trading income from the

licence. This measure is available in respect of one licence only. Where

inheritance tax or probate tax was paid in respect of a taxi licence, the value

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used for such tax purposes may be used instead of the actual capital

expenditure cost, if that value is higher. The capital allowance scheme also

caters for the situation where a widow or widower, who has inherited the

licence from his or her spouse, lets the licence to a third party who provides

the associated vehicle

The Panel recognises that these provisions offer taxi licence holders affected

by liberalisation of entry to the taxi market a means of offsetting income loss.

Individual licence holders can now offset the cost of their taxi licences against

both their trading income and their rental income. Previously, a taxi licence

holder would have been precluded from writing off the expenditure incurred in

buying a taxi licence against his or her income.

The Government noted persistent claims that certain taxi licence holders have

suffered extreme personal financial hardship following the November, 2000

changes which may not have been fully addressed by the mitigation measures

already put in place. In response to these claims, the Government decided

that a Panel be established to investigate the taxi hardship situation and

provide a report to Government.

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Establishment and Remit of Panel

On 5 February, 2002, the Government approved the appointment of a Panel

of three independent persons to examine and report in general terms on the

nature and extent of extreme personal financial hardship experienced by

individual taxi licence holders arising from loss of income as a direct result of

the liberalisation of the taxi licensing regime on 21 November 2000. The

Report is to include an estimate of the numbers of individual licence holders

involved, the likely financial implications and the recommended criteria for

assessment of extreme personal financial hardship under any subsequent

proposed response by Government.

When establishing the Panel the Government made it clear that there was no

question of payments for perceived loss of value in licences and the terms of

reference of the Panel reflect this position. The Panel also had regard to the

fact that the Courts have on a number of occasions since 1992 clarified that

there can be no legal duty on the State to compensate licence holders in

relation to the secondary value of licences.

The Panel was appointed in February, 2002, to report its findings to the

Minister for the Environment and Local Government. Consequent to the

election of May 2002, the formation of a new Government and the re-

allocation of responsibilities, the Panel is now reporting to the Minister for

Transport, Mr. Séamus Brennan, T.D. within whose remit the regulation or

otherwise of the taxi industry now falls.

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Panel Membership

The Panel consists of three independent persons as follows –

Mr Bill Attley – Former General Secretary of SIPTU.

Mr Kevin Bonner (Chair) – Former Secretary General of the Department of

Enterprise Trade and Employment

Ms Ann Riordan – Formerly of Microsoft Ireland.

Secretariat Kevin McCormick (Secretary)

Pauline Donnelly

Stephen Murphy Geraldine Norton

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Advertisement of Establishment of the Panel

Subsequent to the announcement of the establishment of the Panel,

advertisements inviting submissions were placed in the national newspapers

on three separate occasions, 12 February, 15 March and 12 April, 2002. The

Panel met with representatives of taxi unions and with FAIR to hear their

views.

The advertisements invited individuals who held a taxi or a wheelchair

accessible taxi licence at 21 November 2000 who consider that they have

suffered extreme personal financial hardship arising from taxi liberalisation to

make submissions to the Panel, including an indication as to how their claim

of hardship could be substantiated. It was open to each individual taxi

licence holder to make his or her own submission directly to the Panel and the

closing date for submissions was 19 April 2002. However, in the interests of

making this report to the Minister as comprehensive as possible, the Panel

took into consideration a number of submissions received after this date.

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Submissions Received

The terms of reference required a report to the Minister in general terms on

the nature and extent of extreme personal financial hardship which may have

been experienced by individual taxi licence holders arising from loss of

income as a direct result of the liberalisation of entry to the taxi industry on 21

November 2000.

As a result of the meetings with the unions, the Panel recognised that the

introduction of a standard form would greatly facilitate individuals in making

their submissions. A copy of this form is attached at Appendix B. Copies of

the form were sent to taxi unions and to every individual who forwarded a

submission to the Panel. In total, in excess of 2000 forms were sent out to

individuals and, of these, 1,419 were returned. 494 forms were partially

completed.

The Panel examined the submissions received with a view to determining

categories under which the submissions might be classified on the basis of

the most common claims made by individuals, and also reviewed a sample of

the submissions on a case by case basis.

To further clarify the situation and gain some personal perspectives, the Panel

also invited a number of affected individuals to meet with it and present their

cases.

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Key Themes of Submissions Received

The Panel carefully scrutinised submissions received and recurrent issues

relating to financial hardship, human cost, relationship/family difficulties,

health problems and concerns for the future, were noted. It is claimed that the

following problems arose as a direct result of the liberalisation of the taxi

industry.

Financial Hardship

�� Inability to maintain loan repayments for licences which were secured on

houses resulting in threats of repossession of family homes. In some

submissions it is claimed that the family home has actually been sold to

realise funds.

�� Loss of rental income especially for those individuals who were dependent

on taxi licence rental e.g. Widows.

�� Loss of income due to larger number of taxis competing for the same

amount of business resulting in inability to pay normal household

expenses and otherwise maintain the previous standard of living. Working

longer hours for the same/less income and accordingly incurring difficulties

in the maintenance of the previous standard of living.

�� High maintenance and running cost of wheelchair accessible taxis

exacerbated by difficulties in finding cosies and the increased number of

taxis on the streets.

Other Consequences of Financial Hardship

A large proportion of submissions claim that the liberalisation of the taxi

regime has taken its toll on individuals health and has had a ripple effect on

family circumstances. The various problems alleged to have been

encountered are detailed below.

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Relationship/Family difficulties

In their submissions a number of individuals contend that the liberalisation of

the taxi industry has had serious repercussions on their family circumstances.

Individuals claim in their submissions that domestic rows, a lack of quality time

to spend with family/children due to working excessive hours, insecurity as to

children’s future education and inheritance, and the lack of social life and

holidays are all problems resulting from, or exacerbated by, liberalisation. In

addition, it has been claimed that marriages have suffered breakdown

resulting in separation due to financial pressures arising from liberalisation.

Health Problems

Taxi licence holders contend that as social welfare contributions made by the

self-employed do not entitle them to sick pay they are left without income if

they incur any medical problems. Prior to liberalisation, if a taxi operator could

not work for a period of time due to illness, it was possible to rent out the

vehicle to provide an income. As a consequence of liberalisation, taxi

operators claim that it is not possible for them to rent out their taxi in this

manner. This is due to the fact that individuals who wished to operate taxis

prior to liberalisation were not granted licences by local authorities and instead

sought to rent the licences from existing licencees. It is now possible for any

individual to obtain a public service vehicle licence from local authorities

subject to meeting qualitative regulatory requirements.

Individual taxi operators with long-term illnesses such as Cancer, Parkinson’s

Disease, impaired dexterity/mobility, arthritis and diabetes prior to November

2000 derived their income from the letting of their taxi vehicle or taxi licence.

It is no longer possible to derive an income in this manner as outlined above.

Amongst the many and varied medical conditions cited as being directly

attributable to, or intensified by, liberalisation, are strokes, hypertension, high

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cholesterol and heart problems, stress, anxiety and panic attacks, depression,

asthma, colitis, back problems, and fatigue.

Whilst this by no means purports to be an exhaustive list of ailments, it is,

however, a representative sample of the nature, range and severity of the

conditions which are claimed to have been suffered by a large number of

individuals who made submissions to the Panel.

Concerns for the Future

Individuals who made negligible or no provision for private pensions on the

basis that their taxi licences could be used to provide a basis for a pension

fund or a rental income do not now have those options.

According to current wheelchair accessible taxi policy, individuals who need to

replace their vehicles will be required to purchase WATS and believe that they

will be unable to maintain and run the taxi given the higher costs involved.

Further Concerns

Some rural taxi licence holders complain that liberalisation was a national

solution to a Dublin problem, which brought with it many of the problems

already cited.

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Categories Defined Subsequent to their assessment of the submissions the Panel decided that

they fell to be classified under the nine categories listed beneath.

Category 1 - Widows/Separated

Individuals in this category inherited a taxi licence from a deceased spouse, or

were awarded a taxi licence through court proceedings in separation or

divorce cases. Their income was derived from the renting of the taxi licences

to taxi companies or individual operators. Although the Finance Act, 2001

introduced tax rebates on taxi licence rental income for individuals, it has been

argued by taxi unions and operators that these have proved to be of little, if

any, value.

The taxi unions and individual submissions also maintain that due to the fact

that people who seek to drive a taxi may now obtain a licence from a local

authority subject to fulfilling requirements vis-à-vis the car, taximeter and

signage, it has become difficult if not impossible to rent out existing taxi

licences. It is claimed that income in most such cases has fallen to the level

of the widows pension or in the case of separated persons to the level of one

parent family payment.

Category 2 - Persons over 65 years.

These individuals would have considered their taxi licence to be the basis for

their old age pension. People falling within this category state that they were

operating on the premise that their taxi licence was their pension and now

they have no other means of support other than the non-contributory (means

tested) old age pension.

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Category 3 - Aged 50-65 years and with no pension plan*

These individuals now find it is too late to make provision for a private pension

plan as they claim that they had planned for the future on the basis that they

could sell or rent the taxi licence to provide a pension on retirement.

Category 4 - WAT operators claiming higher operating costs.

It is claimed that wheelchair accessible taxis require more maintenance and

have more expensive running costs. It is argued that this creates financial

difficulties for operators. In addition, wheelchair accessible taxi licence

holders often had cosies renting their wheelchair accessible taxi vehicles part-

time. It is now virtually impossible to find cosies to rent these taxis part-time.

The vehicles are also more expensive and are associated with higher loan or

finance repayments.

Category 5 - Under 50 years, reduced income, large loan repayments

Individuals in this category secured large loans to purchase taxi licences.

This is especially evident in the taximeter areas where licences changed

hands at higher prices. Often loans are secured using individual homes or

that of a family member as security. Loans were secured over repayment

periods of typically 10 to 20 years. In many cases individuals are restructuring

the loans over longer time periods due to difficulties in meeting repayments.

Some individuals now find that there is a strong possibility of repossession of

family homes by finance companies.

Category 6 - Capital value claims, Multiple licences, Additional income

Any licence held provided additional income or was for investment purposes.

Some individuals purchased more than one taxi licence as investments. A

number of submissions in this category requested solely to be reimbursed for

the capital value of the taxi licence. However, consideration of capital loss

does not fall within the Panel’s terms of reference. * Age taken as at 31 December, 2002.

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Category 7 - Insufficient data supplied.

A small proportion of submissions contained insufficient information to enable

them be to classified.

Category 8 - Increased hours worked or same hours for reduced income

Many submissions allege that drivers are working additional hours to maintain

their standard of living or that they are experiencing a drop in living standard

while maintaining the same number of working hours. It is claimed that prior

to November 21, 2000, a typical full-time taxi operator’s working week

consisted of approximately 48 hours while in the period since it has

lengthened to 90 hours, or more, per week. Operators who cannot work

additional hours due to a disability or illness claim that the same number of

hours are being worked for a reduced income.

Category 9 - Invalids

Submissions were received from individuals who held taxi licences and

previously worked full-time as taxi drivers but can no longer work as they

suffer from ill health or disabilities including Cancer, Parkinsons Disease and

Arthritis. Previously, as in the case of widows, income was derived from the

renting of the taxi licence and this is no longer possible as outlined in

Category 1 above.

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Findings Resulting from Categorisation

Number of submissions and total number of licences, at 21 November, 2000. No. % Number of submissions received by Panel 2006 51.3 Total number of taxi licences in Ireland at 20 Nov 2000* 3912 100

* The number of licences nationally is based on information supplied to the Department of the

Environment and Local Government by individual licensing authorities.

As a number of submissions were in respect holders of multiple licences, the

actual number of licences represented in submissions to the Panel is in

excess of 51.3%.

Submission forms Returned

Number of forms fully completed and returnedNumber returned partially completedNumber not returned

Numbers of submission forms received partially and fully completed. No. % Number of forms fully completed and returned 924 46.1

Number returned partially completed 494 24.6

Number not returned 588 29.3

Total Number of submissions received 2006 100

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Subsequent to deciding upon the categories in the previous section, the

submissions were examined and the resulting table and graph of the results

are below:

Breakdown of categories by number and %

No. %

1 Widows 74 3.7 2 65 Yrs & over 156 7.8 3 Negligible/No Pension 433 21.6 4 Wheelchair accessible taxi 316 15.8 5 Large Loan Repayments 321 16.0 6 Capital Claims/Investors 152 7.6 7 Insufficient Info 94 4.7 8 Working increased hours 385 19.2 9 Invalids who are unable to work 75 3.7 Total Submissions 2006 100

* 2006 submissions categorised as accurately as possible based on information supplied.

However it should be borne in mind that some submissions were categorised on the basis of

limited information available. See notes regarding breakdown below.

Breakdown of Submissions

Widows165 Yrs & over2Negligible/No Pension 3Wheelchair accessible taxi 4Large Loan Repayments5Capital Claims/Investors6Insufficient Info7Working increased hours8Invalids who are unable to work 9

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Notes regarding the Breakdown

�� Individuals over 50 years of age with large loan repayments were

categorised on the basis of the loan rather than on the basis of any

possible lack of pension provision.

�� Individuals with more than one taxi licence were categorised on the basis

of the first taxi licence they owned if they worked it – otherwise they were

classified as investors.

�� For the purpose of analysing the submissions, ages taken as would be at

31 December, 2002 (where information has been supplied to make a

determination).

�� It may be the case that individuals also fall into more than one of the

categories. However it has only been possible to categorise on the basis

of information given in individual submissions. Some individuals, did not

specify details which would permit them to be more accurately

categorised.

�� Many individuals made submissions on standard forms supplied by taxi

unions and public representatives. A proportion of these did not provide

sufficient information to enable them to be classified under categories 1-6

or 8.

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Panel’s views on extreme personal financial hardship

Category 1 (Widows/Separated) Widows and individuals holding licences as a result of court awards to provide

for families had, as a rule, rented the licences to individuals or taxi companies.

Rental income of between €100 and €300 per week, depending on the

arrangement in place, is claimed to have been received. Where higher levels

of income were received the holder of the licence usually provided the vehicle,

taximeter and signage while in other cases the car, sign and taximeter were

the property of the individual renting the licence who paid a lower rental to the

licence holder. Similarly ongoing vehicle maintenance could be the

responsibility of the licence holder or the cosy. Individuals in these

circumstances paid tax on the combined rental income and widows pension.

However, income has dropped from the sum of the rent and widow’s pension

less tax paid to receipt of pension only. In the case of separated persons, the

income loss is similar but with lone parent’s allowance instead of the widow’s

pension. The Panel believes that this income reduction comes within the

definition of suffering extreme personal financial hardship.

Category 2 (Over 65 years) Taxi licence holders consistently claim that licences were the basis of their

pension funds. However, a person making adequate provision for a pension

for retirement years commences often in their thirties or earlier. Taxi drivers

at pensionable age or in the 50 to 65 age bracket i.e. approaching

pensionable age, should have commenced making provision for their pension

circa 1980 or before.

Submissions to the Panel claim that in 1980, licences had an average open

market value of under £7,000 which, even allowing for inflation, is not viewed

by the Panel as being sufficient to fund a pension. It is difficult to see how a

taxi licence holder at that time would have been able to foresee that values

would rise continuously in subsequent years that might allow a licence to be

used as the basis for a pension. Indeed, it might be argued that even the

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value of a licence in 2000 prior to liberalisation would not have adequately

provided for a pension. The onus is on individuals to have made adequate

pension provision above and beyond any value that was perceived to exist in

the licence. However, the Panel believes that as this situation has developed

over time extreme personal financial hardship has resulted.

Category 3 (Aged 50-65 with no pension plan) Individuals falling within this category are in a similar predicament to those

referred to in Category 2 above. As already stated these people should have

commenced making provision for their pensions long ago. However, as with

those individuals who fall under category 2 the Panel feels that given

developments over time extreme personal financial hardship has resulted.

Category 4 (Wheelchair accessible taxi operators with higher operating costs) It is claimed that the income of wheelchair accessible taxi drivers has been

eroded by the increase in the numbers of licensed taxis. It is argued that due

to the more expensive maintenance, loan payments and running costs

associated with these vehicles, this claimed reduced income with higher costs

results in financial hardship. The Panel accepts this to some degree but

recognises that the current use of these vehicles allows for higher occupancy

which offsets these increased costs to some extent.

Category 5 (Under 50 years with reduced income and large loan repayments) The Panel’s perusal of submissions highlighted the plight of a number of

individuals falling within this category who availed of loans to purchase taxi

licences using their own or a family members home as collateral and now find

the threat of repossession looming over them, due to their reduced income

and consequent difficulties or inability to meet repayments. The Panel are of

the opinion that such individuals are experiencing extreme personal financial

hardship.

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Category 6 (Claims for capital value, multiple licence holders or individuals in receipt of other income) Submissions under this category are from multiple taxi licence holders,

individuals in other employment or on early retirement and in receipt of a

pension, and claims for capital value. In this scenario licences held generated

additional income or were for investment purposes. In light of the foregoing

the Panel consider that these individuals are not suffering from extreme

financial hardship.

Category 7 A small proportion of submissions contained insufficient information to enable

them to be classified.

Category 8 (Individuals claiming to work increased number of hours or the same number of hours with a reduced income) Extra Hours - while the panel recognises that individuals falling within this

Category may be working an increased number of hours per week to maintain

their standard of living, it does not accept that this constitutes extreme

personal financial hardship within its terms of reference.

Category 9 (Invalids) This category consists of taxi licencees who are invalided and incapable of

driving for a living. Individuals suffer from a range of disabilities and are of

various ages. Prior to November 2000, the primary income of these was

derived from the rental income of their taxi licence. It is no longer possible to

rent out their licences and consequently their income is now derived from

Social Welfare Disability Allowance. The Panel are of the opinion that such

individuals are experiencing extreme personal financial hardship.

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Panel Recommendations

It is recommended that a scheme be established to provide tax-free

compassionate payments to the categories that the Panel believes have

suffered extreme personal financial hardship arising from reduction of

incomes ensuing from the liberalisation of the taxi licensing regime in

November, 2000. It is further recommended that any payments made should

not be taken into consideration by the Department of Social, Community and

Family Affairs for the purpose of determining individuals’ social welfare

benefits. Due to the nature of extreme personal financial hardship identified,

the Panel recommends that the financial assistance scheme be established

as a matter of urgency.

In cases where more than one licence was held by an individual, payments

should be made in respect of substantiated hardship experienced in relation to

one licence only. Furthermore, under any future scheme, an individual should

only be able to apply for consideration for payment under one category of

hardship. In order to qualify for payment under any scheme so established by

Government, the onus will be on applicants to substantiate claims of hardship

in their application as required by the administrators of the scheme.

Applicants under a scheme should be tax compliant.

Categories Recommended to be considered for payments

1. Widows/Separated individuals who previously rented out the licence. In recognition of the hardship suffered from the drop in income due to the

inability to rent out existing licences thereby supplementing the widows

pension or lone parent allowance, the Panel recommends that a payment of

€15,000 be made to individuals with dependants in this category who are in

receipt of widows pension and have no other independent income. Where

such an individual has no dependants a payment of €10,000 is recommended.

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2. Individuals Aged Over 65. Existing Social Welfare allowances have become available to licence holders.

Prior to November 2000, taxi licence holders were not eligible for non-

contributory (means tested) pensions. Post-liberalisation, the Department of

Social, Community and Family Affairs recognised that this means had

reduced in value and now assesses applicants for pensions accordingly. The

result is that the State in many cases is already paying pension allowances for

taxi licence holders over 65 years.

It is recommended that a payment of €13,000 be made to each individual who

qualifies. To qualify, individuals should have operated as full time taxi drivers

at 21 November, 2000. In addition, individuals sole source of income should

be the Social Welfare contributory or non-contributory old age pensions.

3. Aged 50-65 years without Provision for Pension. It is recommended that individuals who, on retirement, will be in a position

whereby they will have no independent pension other than the State non-

contributory pension receive a payment of €13,000. To qualify, these

individuals should be aged between 50 and 65 years old on 31 December,

2002, should have been operating as full-time taxi drivers on 21 November,

2000 and in addition, should not be in receipt of any other income than that of

taxi income.

It is recognised by the Panel that there are a number of taxi drivers currently

on secondment to the taxi unions and it is the Panel’s view that they are

covered in these recommendations as full-time taxi drivers subject to them

meeting the requirements of any category for which they wish to apply.

4 Wheelchair accessible taxi It is evident from submissions received that the running costs of wheelchair

accessible taxis are higher than that of a saloon vehicle. The Panel accepts

that these costs place wheelchair accessible taxi operators in a situation

whereby they might have difficulties in meeting payments associated with the

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vehicles, and other expenses. The Panel is aware that a number of

submissions received state that a number of such licence holders have since

November, 2000 replaced their licences and vehicles with standard saloon

cars. The Panel recommends that individuals falling within this category

receive a payment of €3,000. To qualify, licence holders should be operating,

full-time, a wheelchair accessible taxi, and be able to demonstrate a reduction

in income from that pertaining pre-November 2000. In addition, the applicants

should be in receipt of no other income.

5 Large Loan Repayments As previously indicated, there can be no question of claims for compensation

for the perceived capital value of taxi licences prior to liberalisation being

addressed by the Panel. From submissions received, it is apparent to the

Panel that the repayment of outstanding loans held by taxi licencees obtained

and secured on family homes in the 6 years prior to November 2000 has been

made untenable in some cases due to the claimed reductions in income from

operating a taxi since November 2000. This has had the result in some of

these cases that financial institutions have served notices of intent to taxi

operators for the repossession of family homes. The Panel believes that this

constitutes extreme personal financial hardship and accordingly recommends

that individuals falling within this category receive payments as outlined in the

following table:

Minimum Loan outstanding Recommended Payment

€40,000 €6,000

€60,000 €8,000

€80,000 €10,000

€100,000 €12,000

However, certain strict conditions should apply to the making of a payment in

any given case. In the first instance, the income of applicants should be

solely derived from the operation of a taxi on a full-time basis. In addition,

individuals should provide documented evidence, such as loan agreements

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from lending institutions, to substantiate that difficulties are being experienced

in the servicing of a loan secured against a family home and evidence of

reduced income from operating their taxi since November 21, 2000.

9. Invalids The Panel believes that the financial means of invalided or disabled taxi

licence holders who cannot work should already have been established by the

Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs. Individuals who meet

means criteria should, accordingly, already be in receipt of disability benefit or

allowance. However, the Panel recommends that a payment of €13,000 be

made to invalids in this situation as it is recognised that these individuals have

suffered hardship. Applicants should be required to produce sufficient medical

evidence and be in receipt of no other income other than social welfare

assistance.

Categories 6 – 8 The Panel does not accept that individuals in these categories are suffering

from extreme personal financial hardship as a direct result of the liberalisation

of the taxi licensing regime on 21 November, 2000. The Panel does not

recommend any financial assistance in respect of these categories.

Category 7 As outlined, a small proportion of submissions contained insufficient

information to enable them to be classified.

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Conclusion

The task facing the Panel in compiling its report was a challenging, and

onerous one. However, the end result presents a comprehensive reflection of

the nature and extent of extreme personal financial hardship caused as a

direct result of the liberalisation of the taxi licensing regime based on the

information provided by submissions received from members of the industry.

With a view to establishing the scope of the problem within the industry, the

Panel sought as much data as possible from those making submissions. To

this end a form was provided to facilitate individuals in presenting their case

(see copy attached at Appendix). In total, 2006 submissions were received

and analysed.

It has been claimed in submissions that the effects of liberalisation of the taxi

industry go beyond the immediate problems caused by extreme personal

financial hardship and in fact impinge on family life and individuals’ general

quality of living. Accordingly, in formulating its recommendations, the Panel

carefully considered all aspects of the situation.

In order to fully ascertain the extent of the issue and gain personal

perspectives on the problem, meetings were held with individual licence

holders, representatives of the various taxi unions and FAIR. These meetings

proved invaluable to the Panel, providing the members with useful additional

information to supplement the written submissions.

In arriving at its recommendations, the Panel took cognisance of the fact that

many people operating WATS have received refunds on their licence fees,

where such licences were granted directly to the individuals by Local

Authorities and in excess of £100 was paid to the local authority as a licence

fee. In addition those people working in the industry are entitled to avail of tax

concessions under the Finance Act 2001.

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In conclusion, the Panel considers that their recommendations are a fair and

final settlement of the grievances aired by taxi licences holders as a result of

liberalisation of the taxi licensing regime.

The table below summarises the results of the analysis of the submissions

and the recommendations of the Panel: No. % Payment Total 1 Widows 74 3.7 15,000* 1,110,000 2 65 Yrs & over 156 7.8 13,000 2,028,000 3 Negligible/No Pension 433 21.6 13,000 5,629,000 4 Wheelchair accessible taxi 316 15.8 3,000 948,000 5 Large Loan Repayments 321 16.0 9,000** 2,889,000 6 Capital Claims/Investors 152 7.6 - - 7 Insufficient Info 94 4.7 - - 8 Working increased hours 385 19.2 - - 9 Invalids who are unable to work 75 3.7 13,000 975,000 Total Submissions 2006 100 12,604,000

* Maximum amount payable based on all applicants having dependants.

** Figure derived as an average of the table in category 5.

It is unlikely that all 2006 licence holders who made submissions will succeed

in substantiating a claim for hardship. Given the efforts which the Panel made

in asking licence holders to make submissions it is not clear what percentage

of the remaining 1906 licence holders will apply or qualify for assistance.

In view of these considerations, our best estimate is that the total claims

should not exceed €15m.

Breakdown of Submissions

Widows165 Yrs & over2Negligible/No Pension 3Wheelchair accessible taxi 4Large Loan Repayments5Capital Claims/Investors6Insufficient Info7Working increased hours8Invalids who are unable to work 9

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Appendix

Copy of Newspaper Advertisements Inviting Submissions

Taxi Hardship Panel

The Government has approved the appointment of a Panel to report in general terms on

the nature and extent of extreme personal financial hardship which may have been

experienced by individual taxi licence holders arising from loss of income as a direct

result of the liberalisation of the taxi licensing regime on 21 November 2000.

Submissions are invited from the holders of a taxi or a wheelchair accessible taxi

licence at 21 November 2000 who claim to have suffered extreme personal financial

hardship arising from taxi liberalisation. Persons making a submission should indicate

how they can substantiate their claim of hardship. Forms are available to assist such

submissions, if required, and may be obtained from the Taxi Hardship Panel.

Submissions may be sent to the following address:

Taxi Hardship Panel

Floor 2

Findlater House

Upper O’Connell Street

Dublin 1

By fax to (01) 8882283

or by e-mail to: kevin_mccormick@environ.irlgov.ie

Telephone Enquiries - (01) 888 2970 and (01) 888 2971

THE FINAL DATE FOR THE RECEIPT OF SUBMISSIONS IS 19 APRIL 2002.

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Taxi Hardship Panel

Personal Details

Name Address

Date of Birth

Type of Licence (WAT or Saloon)

Issuing Authority Licence No.

In what manner did you acquire your licence

Purchase Inheritance

Court Award WAT granted by L.A.

Pre-1978

Maritial Status

Married Widowed Single/Separated

Date of acquisition of PSV vehicle licence

Cost of PSV Vehicle Licence (if applicable)

Weekly income from licence pre November 21, 2000 excluding plate rental income

Weekly income pre November 21, 2000 plate rental income ONLY

Weekly income from other sources (pre Nov 2000)

Total weekly

Weekly income post November 21, 2000(Please indicate source(s))

Hours worked per week pre 21 November 2000

Hours worked per week post 21 November 2000

General Statement of your position and indicate what documentation might substantiate your claim.

Signature Date

The Taxi Hardship Panel has stated that the information supplied is for the information of the Panel only and will be treated as confidential