This article is from page 17 of the 2013-11-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
ENNIS Town Council has been named in a test case before the high court, as more than 1,000 taxi drivers sue the Government amid claims their property rights were breached when the industry was de-regulated. The taxi drivers are also suing the Minister for the Environment, the Attorney General and Dublin City Council. As many as 1,200 legal actions by other drivers are awaiting the outcome of the legal proceedings. Taxi drivers in the test case, includ- ing drivers from Ennis, suffered a “financially disastrous overnight catastrophe” they claim when the taxi licensing regime was deregulated in 2000.
Many drivers bought a licence valued at £80,000, almost € 100,000, before deregulation in November of that year. Some claim they purchased the licence as late as August 2000.
Taxi drivers say the “overnight” deregulation scheme wiped out the value of their licences.
These drivers now allege that this deregulation breached their property rights under the Constitution.
They have also claimed that the Government, which is defending the test cases, breached EU competition laws when the industry was liberalised. The taxi drivers believe they should now receive damages as a result of what it maintains was an unlawful and unreasonable move.