Taxi fares in Republic of Ireland 'to rise by 12%'

Every taxi in the Republic of Ireland must also accept credit and debit card payments as well as cash from next Thursday

Taxi fares in the Republic of Ireland are to increase from next Thursday by an average of 12%, according to the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Every taxi in the country must also accept credit and debit card payments as well as cash from that date.

The NTA's director of public transport regulation, Wendy Thompson, said it reviews the maximum fare every two years, taking both drivers and passengers into account.

She told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that the full fare review examined all the running costs that a driver has to pay to provide a taxi service in the current economic environment.

"This time, because of what is going on in the post-pandemic era and renewed socialising, we also strongly considered passenger demand and how that has changed from pre-Covid times, particularly for night-time trips which are up 45%," she added.

Ms Thompson said taxi drivers were also due to get a 5% fare increase in 2020, which they had not taken, due to the circumstances at that time.

"This increase will include all the cost changes and everything up to now," she said.

Ms Thompson added that the NTA had weighted the increase "heavily" towards the night-time economy "where demand has started outstripping supply", in order to incentivise more drivers to work at night.