People in Ireland could see taxi fares increase by a massive 12.5% as the industry struggles to combat the cost of living crisis.
The National Transport Authority said it is considering its first hike in taxi fares in five years.
Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, told RTE's Morning Ireland: "If you look back we haven't actually seen an increase in taxi fares since 2017/2018 so that's five years since there's been any increases on taxi fares.
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"That represents about 2.5/3 per cent a year which is reasonable if you think about the increase in the cost of living over those years."
Ms Graham said the increase would also apply to fares at peak times in order to encourage drivers to make themselves available at unsociable hours.
She said: "What we are trying to do then is ensure that we have as many drivers available at the peak times, which is when people are looking for taxis, particularly at night time.
"So we've rebalanced the fares a little bit to ensure that there is more of a payment in the evening periods, in the premium period, to encourage more drivers to be available in those at those times."
Ms Graham said the pandemic has also seen almost ten per cent of drivers leave the industry, adding that the National Transport Authority hopes the increased fares would encourage some drivers to return.
She said: "We have seen an exit from the industry of about nine per cent across those two years, but there is a proportion of drivers who have more or less suspended their licences for a period of time, and they're allowed to do that for about two years.
"We would hope that there would be a proportion of those drivers who will come back into the industry particularly if they see there is a better return for them for working in that industry."
Ms Graham said that although there have been complaints about the availability of taxis since the reopening of nightlife, the number of drivers on the roads has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
She said: "We've done some research with our drivers, and they are actually as available as they would have been pre-pandemic at those hours."
She added: "There's a natural fall-off obviously in the very early hours of the morning, but approximately 30 per cent of drivers make themselves available at that time compared to about 50 per cent obviously during the day. It still is at the level that it was pre-pandemic."
If the taxi fare increase is approved, it will take effect from August 31.
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