Taxi chaos at Dublin Airport

THERE was chaos for passengers at Dublin Airport last week when furious taxi drivers staged a crippling two-day strike in a dispute over parking spaces.

The drivers returned to work on Friday morning (August 24) after an agreement was reached between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and taxi unions ahead of what was one of the busiest weekends of the year for tourism in Dublin.

The bitter row, which erupted on Wednesday (August 22), was over access to spaces in an overflow area for drivers awaiting access to ranks.

Drivers argued that the DAA, which generates over e500,000 from taxi permits each year, restricted their ability to get custom at the airport.

The DAA meanwhile said its decision to extinguish 70 overflow spaces on Tuesday, August 21 was for

“commercial reasons

?.

After intensive talks with a mediator, a third day of strike action was averted when the DAA agreed to restore disputed parking spaces for two weeks, during which time a permanent resolution must be reached with taxi representatives.

While no final agreement was reached the mediator drew up a plan for the issue to be resolved by September 7.

All sides have vowed to enter intensive negotiations to end the dispute by that date.

If a final agreement isn’t reached drivers could withdraw services again.

Some 1,500 drivers are licensed to pick up fares at the airport and there have been 600 spaces for drivers since 2010 when Terminal 2 was opened.

Affected drivers, all of whom pay over e400 a year for a permits, said they were furious that the DAA was taking their money for permits while restricting their ability to work.

According to David McGuinness, chairman of Santry based Tiomanai Tacsai na hEireann (TTnH), drivers were incensed that the decision to close spaces was made without consultation with taxi unions.

“Seventy fewer spaces effectively means that drivers are being denied the right to service the airport, which we pay through the nose for through the cost of the permit,

? he told Northside People.

“There is a lot of anger and tensions are high because of this.

?

A spokesperson for the DAA said that the planned reduction in spaces would not leave drivers with any fewer spaces than they had two years ago because the number of taxi permit holders had declined by more than 300 since 2010.

“There are currently about 1,560 taxi permits and DAA provides about 600 spaces for taxis at the airport,

? the spokesperson stated.

“We created the temporary overflow area for taxi drivers in 2010, prior to the opening of Terminal 2. This temporary overflow, which can accommodate about 170 cars, is in additional to the normal taxi holding area which accommodates more than 400 vehicles.

“When T2 opened in late 2010, it added almost 60 extra taxi spaces at the T2 rank. The planned amendments to the overflow, which are required for commercial reasons, will result in 60-70 fewer vehicles being accommodated in that area.

?

According to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the dispute was damaging to Ireland’s reputation.

“The tourism industry has endured a difficult number of years and situations like this are not ideal when we are trying to portray the city in a positive light to overseas visitors,

? said Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber Chief Executive.