Taxi-drivers will have to produce tax clearance certificates before they have their taxi licences renewed under proposals put forward by the National Taxi Council.
The recommendation is among three which have been agreed by the 18-member taxi council - a representative body appointed by the Minister for Transport and chaired by the former Garda commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne.
The Minister, Mr Brennan, has previously said he is willing to implement any reasonable recommendation from the council.
In a recent report to the Minister Mr Byrne indicated agreement had been reached with drivers, tourism bodies and gardaí for a limited number of changes to existing regulations.
In addition to the tax certificates these changes include new practices for taxi- drivers to wear identification badges, which would be colour coded to distinguish taxis from hackney cabs or limousines.
The third recommendation is that the exemption from the requirement to wear seat-belts currently enjoyed by taxi-drivers, be ended.
The National Taxi Council was initially expected to report to the taxi regulator, but the Government was advised by the civil service commission that none of the 20 applicants for the job were suitable.
In an attempt to attract more interest the post has now been re-advertised with a 10 per cent increase in the proposed salary bringing it into the €100,000 per year bracket.
A spokesman for the Minister said a decision on the taxi council's recommendations would be made shortly.
