The National Taxi Drivers' Union has said it is appalled by the attitude of the Regulator Kathleen Doyle to the taxi industry, and has called on her to consider her position.
The union's call came as taxi drivers staged protests in Waterford and Limerick cities, in protest at what they say is the high number of taxi plates being issued, and the lack of space for taxi ranks.
The union said it believes Ms Doyle has 'little or no intention to address the serious problems' in the taxi industry and that she 'appears to be working for the consumer and ignoring the suppliers who are the taxi drivers'.
The Taxi Drivers Union says there may be further work stoppages in the coming weeks over the concerns of taxi drivers.
NTDU President Tommy Gorman says his members are worried about the number of plates now in circulation and that a lack of adequate rank spaces is complicating matters.
In a statement, the Regulator said she was committed to achieving a first class, professional taxi service.
She says that following deregulation of the industry, it is not in her remit to limit the number of taxi licences. Ms Doyle added that the provision of taxi rank spaces was a matter for individual local authorites.
Taxi drivers in Waterford and Limerick held separate protests today.
Waterford drivers held a work stoppage in protest over the lack of spaces on the taxi rank in the city centre.
A spokesperson for the Waterford Taxi Association says there are hundreds of taxi licenses now operating in the city but not nearly enough spaces.
Waterford taxi drivers have had similar protests in the last two months.
Today's two-hour work stoppage began at 1pm.
Separately, hundreds of taxi drivers in Limerick showed their frustration with the Taxi Regulator by staging a go-slow through the city.
Full-time drivers claim their livelihoods are in jeopardy because of the number of licences that have been issued to part-time workers.
There are currently close to 950 licensed operators in Limerick, which they say is 450 more than required.
Spokesperson for the Limerick Taxis Joe McMahon said the shortage of rank space is also a concern. Mr McMahon said there are only 90 rank spaces in the city, which means there is not enough rank space for full-time taxis to do their work.
