The number of drivers returning to the taxi industry is 10% less compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Transport Authority, amid calls for other modes of public transport to be extended beyond their current hours.
NTA Chief Executive Anne Graham said there are just over 3,000 inactive taxi licence holders and that as of the end of September, there were 19,145 active registered vehicles and 25,327 active registered drivers.
She said that while a large percentage of those drivers are active, not all of them are and the NTA's focus has been on retaining as many drivers as possible in the wake of the pandemic.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, she said: "We allowed vehicles licences to go inactive for a longer period of time, so they could become available once demand increased."
The process to become a licenced taxi driver takes between eight to ten months and industry experts believe it can put off many new drivers who are interested in joining the industry.
Ms Graham said the NTA has issued between 800 and 900 new taxi licences in 2022.
"That has shown that people are returning to the industry. There is a licencing process that is managed by An Garda Síochána and drivers have to be vetted by them. So, there is a process that needs to be gone through," she said.
Demand for taxis has increased with reports of people facing waits of up to two-and-a-half hours for a taxi after a night out.
Ms Graham said the driver shortage in the taxi industry is also impacting buses.
"We have now got ten services operating on a 24-hour basis in Dublin, and one in Cork, and we want to increase that number.
"And just as we're having driver shortages in the taxi industry, we're also having them, unfortunately, in the bus industry as well," Ms Graham said.
