# Why do we not have Uber in Ireland?



## Brendan Burgess (1 Jul 2018)

I see that London is getting it back. 

Surely this is good for consumers as it would drive down prices and increase the supply? 

*Adrian Weckler: Let's end wait for Dublin Uber*


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## arbitron (2 Jul 2018)

It's very frustrating. I've used Uber dozens of times in USA and Europe, always great service.

Irish taxis can be very variable; most are fine, but some are atrocious and you can't do much about it. With Uber the drivers are so keen to please and get their 5 star review.  Passengers are also rated so it encourages customers to behave too.

In USA I've been offered cold water, chewing gum, you can play your own Spotify, etc.  Last week I politely asked an Irish taxi driver if he could turn down the radio and I thought he was going to kick me out of the car!

I don't buy the security/safety arguments either. I booked a taxi last year on Hailo and when he arrived the plate number was different to the app. The driver was very aggressive and said that he had left his own cab in for repair and borrowed his friend's taxi.  I cancelled, he went berserk, and when I reported him the response was effectively a shrug. On Uber (and Hailo to be fair) there is a photo of the driver, car details, and the company can track things, so much safer.

Uber is all cards too which means better tax compliance...


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## vandriver (2 Jul 2018)

Uber *is* here.They use licensed taxi drivers.
What you are asking for is unlicensed private car drivers to drive you around. This is not legal here.
A key part of Ubers model is surge pricing in busy periods.This is also illegal.
If Uber want to sign up say a thousand taxi drivers to work for peanuts,apart from 4 hours a day where they can earn the standard fares,then good luck to them.
In London,they use private hire licenses,which aren't issued here at all(commonly known as Hackney's) so that route is closed to them also.
However,I refuse to believe that the situation is anywhere near as dire as Adrian portrays.An hour to get a taxi to the airport!  
When an airport job goes up on mytaxi it is responded to normally in under a minute.
(The same mytaxi that is predominantly card based,has a rating system,and gives you the driver details )
Disclaimer:I am a taxi driver


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## Purple (2 Jul 2018)

Not wishing to derail this thread but I've used a number of taxis recently and of the last five three of the cars absolutely stank. In two of those cases the driver was the source. I'm not sure about the third. I will frequently move along the queue of cars at a rank until I see one that I want to use. If I'm paying the same price i'd rather be brought home in a clean S-Class Merc than a dirty smelly Avensis.   
I've used Uber in the USA but I'd rather use a taxi. I remember the bad old days of 2-3 hour queues in Dublin for a cab. The service is great now though, along with most of my friends, I've stopped using mytaxi since they introduced the €2 pick-up charge. The whole point of the App was that a car which was passing by could get a local fair.


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## vandriver (2 Jul 2018)

The €2 pick up charge was always a legal charge sanctioned by the NTA .Mytaxi discounted it for a few years to build up their business. Most of your friends might have told you that they no longer use mytaxi.
Judging by the amount of work on the app,I'd say at least some of them might have stopped using it for a few weeks,only.
If you have any issues about a taxi under any of the following headings,please make a complaint so the whole industry can improve

'Section 64 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 sets out the categories of complaint that can be dealt with by the Authority. These include complaints relating to:


*The condition, roadworthiness and cleanliness of the vehicle;*
*The conduct, behaviour and identification of an SPSV  driver;*
*Overcharging and other matters relating to fares;*
*The hiring and booking of the SPSV; and*
*Identification and general appearance of the SPSV'*


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## Brendan Burgess (11 Jul 2022)

So Uber lobbied privately to be allowed to operate in Ireland.









						The Uber Files: How the US multinational tried to squeeze the Irish government
					

Leaked company records show a prolonged lobbying campaign by the California-based cab-hailing company aimed at loosening rules that blocked its business model in Ireland




					www.irishtimes.com
				




_The records show Moran claimed special access to Noonan in his work for Uber – in effect a back-channel – saying, when preparing an Uber event in January 2016 to launch its Limerick service centre, that he could drop a “separate note” from the company to the minister’s house on a Sunday “without it forming part of the official” departmental records.

In another message saying he could leave some documents “without ringing the bell”, Moran told MacGann: “If he texted back to come in, well that is something different.” MacGann had asked whether Noonan might be available for a private chat in Limerick.

“Alternatively try *obby Byrne’s or outh’s and you might find him ‘resting’ anyway!” wrote Moran, referring to well-known pubs in the city.*_*

They should have lobbied on the record.

And they should have created a public demand for it.

Do we know why the taxi regulator blocked them?*


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## deanpark (11 Jul 2022)

Is your strikethrough button not working as envisaged?!


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## nest egg (11 Jul 2022)

Brendan Burgess said:


> So Uber lobbied privately to be allowed to operate in Ireland...


Looks like Uber lobbied to be allowed operate everywhere (see: Macron in France). Given what they were up to, actually I think it reflects well on Ireland that they didn't succeed.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (11 Jul 2022)

Brendan Burgess said:


> So Uber lobbied privately to be allowed to operate in Ireland.


Every business lobbies to advance its own interests!

Uber seems to just be a bit more aggressive about it.

I think Uber is great and use it abroad when I can.


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## Bluefin (11 Jul 2022)

NoRegretsCoyote said:


> Every business lobbies to advance its own interests!
> 
> Uber seems to just be a bit more aggressive about it.
> 
> I think Uber is great and use it abroad when I can.


Great for the end user.. Only had positive experiences where l've used it


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## NoRegretsCoyote (11 Jul 2022)

Bluefin said:


> Great for the end user..


It's great for drivers too. Freedom to work as little or as much as you please without much of the unnecessary regulation that surrounds the industry in most places.


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## deanpark (11 Jul 2022)

NoRegretsCoyote said:


> It's great for drivers too. Freedom to work as little or as much as you please without much of the unnecessary regulation that surrounds the industry in most places.


Sounds like a cut and paste from the Uber annual report!


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## Paul O Mahoney (11 Jul 2022)

Well there's a story circulating about Ubers now ex CEO of all sorts of dirty tricks and lobbying of Governments and other nefarious actions in order to sway governments to issue licenses.

I can't link but the Guardian has released what as been dubbed " The Uber papers", and the Washington post is printing extracts too. The journal ran a story today too.


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## becky (13 Jul 2022)

Paul O Mahoney said:


> Well there's a story circulating about Ubers now ex CEO of all sorts of dirty tricks and lobbying of Governments and other nefarious actions in order to sway governments to issue licenses.
> 
> I can't link but the Guardian has released what as been dubbed " The Uber papers", and the Washington post is printing extracts too. The journal ran a story today too.


If you listen to podcasts the Guardian Today in Focus have a series called the Uber Files. 3 so far, I don't know if that's it. 

I'm going to start to listen this evening.


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## DazedInPontoon (13 Jul 2022)

nest egg said:


> Looks like Uber lobbied to be allowed operate everywhere (see: Macron in France). Given what they were up to, actually I think it reflects well on Ireland that they didn't succeed.


Uber CEO: "let me introduce you to what we have started to refer to as a 'brown envelope', I'll explain how it works..."

Irish Politician "oh sweet summer child"


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## Frank (3 Aug 2022)

Last taxi the wife and I were in was a 10 year old superb, had several warning lights on and was beyond end of life. 

Driver moaned mechanic made mistake and cut a belt, absolute heap 

Got us home but that is the standard and the taxi lobby is strong.  

Far too many rubbish cars in the taxi fleet.


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## vandriver (3 Aug 2022)

Frank said:


> Last taxi the wife and I were in was a 10 year old superb, had several warning lights on and was beyond end of life.
> 
> Driver moaned mechanic made mistake and cut a belt, absolute heap
> 
> ...


I'd say you are incorrect that the standard is a 10 year old heap,but then I would say that because 1.I'm a taxi driver and 2.i have access to the statistics.



These figures would be skewed because drivers got an extra 2 years to use their taxis because of covid,and so very few new taxis were purchased in 20/21.


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## Nermal (3 Aug 2022)

deanpark said:


> Sounds like a cut and paste from the Uber annual report!



So what? It's true.


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## Peanuts20 (3 Aug 2022)

the 10 yr old rule which was put on hold during Covid will shortly be reimposed. interesting article here from last month 








						Why Dublin is experiencing a taxi shortage
					

There are just 19,000 taxis on the roads, around 2,500 fewer than prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Soon, thousands more could be off the roads, explains Kieran Dineen.




					www.rte.ie
				



,


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## arbitron (3 Aug 2022)

vandriver said:


> I'd say you are incorrect that the standard is a 10 year old heap,but then I would say that because 1.I'm a taxi driver and 2.i have access to the statistics.
> 
> 
> 
> These figures would be skewed because drivers got an extra 2 years to use their taxis because of covid,and so very few new taxis were purchased in 20/21.



Do you have access to any stats on how many taxis are EVs? I couldn't find any official info but I read that in 2021 there were about 600 electric taxis funded by the grant, which would mean almost 80% of all new taxis were electric. There are so many electric VW ID4s and MGs taxis about the place. There's funding for at least 750 EV taxi grants for 2022 so within a few years we could see a majority of taxis are EVs.


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## Brendan Burgess (3 Aug 2022)

The average taxi is mid 2014 from the above statistics, so 8 years old on average.  So Frank is only 2 years wrong.

Brendan 



Frank said:


> but that is the standard





Frank said:


> Last taxi the wife and I were in was a 10 year


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## Frank (5 Aug 2022)

The important point was the poor running and state of the car. and multiple warning lights 

Lot of the Taxi fleet is poor with premium prices. 

Normally try to pick a better car, but the wife gets annoyed with me when I do this.


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## vandriver (5 Aug 2022)

If I put a premium car on the road(say a 40k Camry) to match up to your perception of premium prices,my costs per hour would be about €12.50.
In a 40 hour week I would expect to take in after commission about €900-€1000 .
I as a driver would be providing a 40k car to make significantly less than any job in Dublin.


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