Irish taxi fares and availability are under fresh scrutiny in an RTÉ Brainstorm analysis by UCD’s Catarina Marvão.
She describes airport-to-southside bills near €90 as emblematic of prices that feel luxury-level, while the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission finds peak/night/rural shortages and urges opening the market to more ride-hailing. The transport minister has rejected a model of “anyone with a private car and an app.” Marvão argues for regulated platform competition — licensing, vetting, insurance, data sharing — and points to Portugal’s TVDE system, where app-booked unmarked cars compete with taxis. Dublin–Lisbon 12km quote comparisons, she says, exceed cost-of-living gaps. The piece is analysis, not a new statute.