An online grant system to help taxi drivers buy wheelchair-accessible vehicles opened for applications on January 6th but closed only 15 minutes later.
The National Transport Authority, which operated the online applications system, said the portal closed as soon as 2,000 applications were received and it was “very happy with the level of interest shown in the wheelchair-accessible vehicles scheme”.
Under the scheme taxi drivers can claim up to €15,000 towards the purchase of wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Last year €6 million was provided to taxi drivers under the scheme.
The authority said the application process will reopen to new applications in July, a departure from previous years.
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Opening twice a year is in line with the buying seasons for new vehicles in January and July. Having two new registration periods in the year instead of one facilitates the motor industry as it spreads demand more evenly across the year, it said.
The Irish Times spoke to a number of taxi drivers who expressed anger at the situation. One man, who did not want to be named, said he “had done the sums” and that it made no sense not to trade in
“Nobody can get this [application] done in 15 minutes. The NTA says it got 2,000 applications but that’s not 2,000 approvals. Anyone who got the application finalised will have to wait to find out if the application is okay – wait until when? We are not told,” he said.
The driver questioned the “lottery” system. “Do they want to have wheelchair-accessible taxis or not?”
A second driver, who also asked not to be named as he intends to apply later this year, questioned why there was a limit on the number of grants available. “The grants are there to solve a problem. Are they real about solving it?” he said.
Meath TD and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said a number of drivers had approached his office to “voice their utter frustration” about the process. “For all the grants to be allocated in just 15 minutes is crazy, and means the current grant is incredibly limited and difficult to secure, currently only available to a tiny cohort of applicants,” he said.
“One man who contacted our office said he was online bang on 10am and locked out by 10.15am. He now has to wait until July to try again. A whole six months and no guarantee at all that he will be successful then and may have to wait a further six months and on it goes.
“This is totally unacceptable and is unfair,” he said.
Mr Tóibín said the Government had “asked the taxi industry to ensure more of its vehicles are accessible for people with disabilities and this is a fair request, but it seems bizarre that when drivers then try to draw down a grant in order to try to buy accessible vehicles the grants are all gone”.
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