Sinn Féin spokesperson on Transport and Communications, Martin Kenny TD, has expressed his disappointment at calls made to remove the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) requirement for newly-registered taxis in light of continued taxi shortages.

His comments follow anticipated taxi shortages this weekend as a number of events take place across Dublin.

Teachta Kenny said:

“The shortage of taxis across the state at peak times has been an issue for years, and we must recognise that part of this problem is the over reliance on an underfunded public transport system.

“In reality, what we should have seen was a staggering of events to ensure public and private transport could cope with the influx of over 600,000 people.

“However, something that will not solve the taxi shortage is removing the accessibility requirement for taxis and other public service vehicles. It is exceptionally disingenuous by the Taxis for Ireland Coalition to suggest such a move.

“People with impaired mobility face many physical and societal barriers daily, and many report to me that they still struggle to book wheelchair accessible taxis every week.

“The current WAV requirement is a small but helpful tool to ensure private transport can meet the needs of people with disabilities.

“Removing accessibility requirements will not provide additional taxis this weekend, however, it will end up reinforcing the unacceptable difficulties already faced by people with disabilities when using public and private transport.”