Tanáiste Leo Varadkar had an unfortunate gaffe on Thursday when he said he found it “much easier to get a ride” in another country.
Mr Varadkar was speaking to reporters when asked about the shortage of taxis across Dublin city.
The Fine Gael leader agreed that it is difficult to get a taxi at the moment due to a “snap back in demand” for services and said a lot of systems are struggling to cope, citing Dublin Airport and the Passport Office.
Then he said: "The big difference that I find going to other parts of the world is that it's much easier to get a ride essentially.”
Mr Varadkar quickly realised what he had said as laughter broke out and repeated “get a car ride” before asking if he could repeat the answer again.
An amused Varadkar then continued that he would like to examine other services such as Uber and Lift as alternatives to taxis due to the shortage people are experiencing.
He said when people travel to other countries, there are other options for people other than public transport.
It comes after festival bosses have warned the public not to depend on taxis to get home from gigs due to shortages.
