NTA response to Covid !9

[dubliner15]

First time poster here...
Does anyone else feel extremely aggrieved and angry at the complete lack of advice and support from the NTA during the pandemic?
There was very little advice for an industry that was on the list of essential services, apart from "wash your hands", which isn't possible in a car. No advise on screens, card only payments etc.
They seemed to be far more concerned with drivers sending back the tamper proof discs, rather than the safety of drivers and customers.
It was obvious that their first reaction was to ensure that drivers couldn't scam the system and shows what they really think of us.

A friend of mine used to work for Applus and sat in on meetings with the NTA. I remember him telling me a few years ago the head of the taxi section in NTA, when referring to taxi drivers said "these are the sort of people we're dealing with" in a completely derogatory way.

Then when the face covering rule came in for public transport, there was absolutely no mention of the taxi industry whatsoever.
I recently saw a bus with an ad for Transport for Ireland on it, it was a picture of a bus, tram and train. No taxi whatsoever, yet we have to have the Transport for Ireland logo on our door stickers. I feel like ripping them off.

The below link is from the Transport for Ireland website about face coverings. Again, absolutely no mention of taxis whatsoever.
https://www.transportforireland.ie/covid-19-updates-face-coverings/

I emailed the NTA about face coverings in taxis on 29th June. Below is the reply I received on July 7th.



"Thank you for contacting the NTA (National Transport Authority). We refer to your recent correspondence received on 29th June 2019.

Face coverings will shortly be compulsory on all SPSV services.

A detailed regulation on this is being prepared by government departments and NTA is involved with that process. That regulation will look at issues like enforcement and exemptions.

Until clear guidelines are available under the new regulation on face coverings, SPSV operators can decide to refuse a passenger who are not wearing face coverings.

A passenger who asks the driver to put his/her health or safety at risk may be refused."


They couldn't even get the date right, its 2020, not 2019.
Anway, we are now close to mid August, 5 weeks since I received that email and there has been absolutely nothing about face coverings in taxis.
The industry seems to be completely overlooked and forgotten about by the NTA and Dept of Transport, yet they'll be quick to prosecute etc for anyone who hasn't sent back discs etc.
I won't lie, it makes me feel pretty shit about my profession as a taxi driver and makes it feel like our lives or jobs aren't valued in any way by the NTA or Government.


Anyone else feeling like this?

[Dr. Martin Gooter Bling]

taxi drivers are'nt in the vulnerable demographic that the auld Bat-21 effects.
the NTA know they're fit and healthy and definitely are'nt man balloons.

[Octavia1]

Traditionally  the taxi driver job was a place  to rehabilitate ex cons ....drug dealers.....rapists , killers , personality disordered misfits and petty criminals wit little iff any education .....now asylum seekers from isis , Pakistanis  married to women they never met, africanns scamming an claiming asylum and torture when ther uncle the minister of finance in nigeria falsified ther passports , all sort of international on the run criminals in hiding scum and filth of the world .....
Now this cocktail of scum imported along with the indigenous white irish home grown dirt that shud of bein aborted have given you a bad name ...a case of bein tarnished or painted with the same brush sort o ting .....
As regards the nta ....its a civil service job ....now I have a cople of civil servinnt friends ..an tho I love them dearly an they  er great fun to be around ......I'll never see them on mastermind or have a deep conversation with them  about the meaning of life .......
So in conclusion ide say to ya ignore everything  an do yur own ting .....an use common sense ....and just do wat yu can ...an do yur best ....cause this is the way of the world .....
The nature of the human ape .....the human nature of the ape if you will ......sort of ting ....

[dalymount]

First time poster here...
Does anyone else feel extremely aggrieved and angry at the complete lack of advice and support from the NTA during the pandemic?
There was very little advice for an industry that was on the list of essential services, apart from "wash your hands", which isn't possible in a car. No advise on screens, card only payments etc.
They seemed to be far more concerned with drivers sending back the tamper proof discs, rather than the safety of drivers and customers.
It was obvious that their first reaction was to ensure that drivers couldn't scam the system and shows what they really think of us.

A friend of mine used to work for Applus and sat in on meetings with the NTA. I remember him telling me a few years ago the head of the taxi section in NTA, when referring to taxi drivers said "these are the sort of people we're dealing with" in a completely derogatory way.

Then when the face covering rule came in for public transport, there was absolutely no mention of the taxi industry whatsoever.
I recently saw a bus with an ad for Transport for Ireland on it, it was a picture of a bus, tram and train. No taxi whatsoever, yet we have to have the Transport for Ireland logo on our door stickers. I feel like ripping them off.

The below link is from the Transport for Ireland website about face coverings. Again, absolutely no mention of taxis whatsoever.
https://www.transportforireland.ie/covid-19-updates-face-coverings/

I emailed the NTA about face coverings in taxis on 29th June. Below is the reply I received on July 7th.



"Thank you for contacting the NTA (National Transport Authority). We refer to your recent correspondence received on 29th June 2019.

Face coverings will shortly be compulsory on all SPSV services.

A detailed regulation on this is being prepared by government departments and NTA is involved with that process. That regulation will look at issues like enforcement and exemptions.

Until clear guidelines are available under the new regulation on face coverings, SPSV operators can decide to refuse a passenger who are not wearing face coverings.

A passenger who asks the driver to put his/her health or safety at risk may be refused."


They couldn't even get the date right, its 2020, not 2019.
Anway, we are now close to mid August, 5 weeks since I received that email and there has been absolutely nothing about face coverings in taxis.
The industry seems to be completely overlooked and forgotten about by the NTA and Dept of Transport, yet they'll be quick to prosecute etc for anyone who hasn't sent back discs etc.
I won't lie, it makes me feel pretty shit about my profession as a taxi driver and makes it feel like our lives or jobs aren't valued in any way by the NTA or Government.


Anyone else feeling like this?

15 the biggest insult of all was when they deemed it ok for taxi drivers to work during the pandemic,but it was not ok for driving instructions,or testers.effectively saying our lives are less important then theirs

[Theoneandonly]

The NTA have been deplorable, they have been delinquent in their obligations to the taxi business.
Rather than help us through this pandemic they have actually placed obstacles  where others have tried to help
For example"
1- NCT extended the renewal dates by 6 months the NTA left the Taxi renewals the same meaning the two dates are out of sync and drivers had to attend during the outbreak/
2- Driver licensing, removing drivers from the APP despite them causing delays both art the carriage office (not processing payments) and then not processing dashboard IDs
3- Licence Suspension, forcing us to suspend our licence in order to avail of the insurance reduction offered by Insurance companies, then forcing drivers to re increase premiums after 3 months or face increased renewal costs, problems for drivers refitting needlessly removed tamper proof stickers
I could go on but why bother?

[john m]

@ dublin 19 .Stop trying to make a rod for your own back .Like shopworkers we were advised to Wash our hands  Shop keepers were not advised by anybody to fit screens at tills they did that after guidance was issued that if it was not possible to observe social distancing then fit a screen .On facemasks workers who work behind a screen are exempt from wearing facecovering .Now try understand the Guidelines issued by the Governmenr as they are the ones that count not the guidelines of the unelected NTA .If you cant observe social distancing fit a screen if you cant fit a screen wear a mask they are the rules for ALL but the Remedial class as it was when I was in School or the Special needs boys that drive taxies dont seem to be able to understand simple instructions no matter how many times they are told .

Drivers and their reps originally asked for checks on insurance and an app to show who was driving what and where .It was up to individual drivers if they wanted to cancel their insurance if they did then the legislation says you cannot display discs on a vehicle that is not a licenced taxi part of being a licenced taxi is you have valid taxi insurance .The NTA deal with EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD why do you think you deserve special treatment even though we are getting preferential treatment when it comes to testing .

The reality is the NTA are treating taxi drivers better than most other motorists .

[Theoneandonly]

@ dublin 19 .Stop trying to make a rod for your own back .Like shopworkers we were advised to Wash our hands  Shop keepers were not advised by anybody to fit screens at tills they did that after guidance was issued that if it was not possible to observe social distancing then fit a screen .On facemasks workers who work behind a screen are exempt from wearing facecovering .Now try understand the Guidelines issued by the Governmenr as they are the ones that count not the guidelines of the unelected NTA .If you cant observe social distancing fit a screen if you cant fit a screen wear a mask they are the rules for ALL but the Remedial class as it was when I was in School or the Special needs boys that drive taxies dont seem to be able to understand simple instructions no matter how many times they are told .

Drivers and their reps originally asked for checks on insurance and an app to show who was driving what and where .It was up to individual drivers if they wanted to cancel their insurance if they did then the legislation says you cannot display discs on a vehicle that is not a licenced taxi part of being a licenced taxi is you have valid taxi insurance .The NTA deal with EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD why do you think you deserve special treatment even though we are getting preferential treatment when it comes to testing .

The reality is the NTA are treating taxi drivers better than most other motorists .

What do you mean by: The NTA deal with EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD?

[Tony]

The NTA have been deplorable, they have been delinquent in their obligations to the taxi business.
Rather than help us through this pandemic they have actually placed obstacles  where others have tried to help
For example"
1- NCT extended the renewal dates by 6 months the NTA left the Taxi renewals the same meaning the two dates are out of sync and drivers had to attend during the outbreak/
2- Driver licensing, removing drivers from the APP despite them causing delays both art the carriage office (not processing payments) and then not processing dashboard IDs
3- Licence Suspension, forcing us to suspend our licence in order to avail of the insurance reduction offered by Insurance companies, then forcing drivers to re increase premiums after 3 months or face increased renewal costs, problems for drivers refitting needlessly removed tamper proof stickers
I could go on but why bother?

I like most reduced my insurance and put the taxi on hold for 3 months but i never sent back the daisys, I had no issues renewing my licence yesterday or never asked for a letter from my insurance company to say my insurance was reinstate  to taxi.

[watty]

@ Dubliner15 - Welcome.  I agree with you.  The NTA has treated us very shabbily.

<snip>Now try understand the Guidelines issued by the Governmenr as they are the ones that count not the guidelines of the unelected NTA .If you cant observe social distancing fit a screen if you cant fit a screen wear a mask they are the rules for ALL <snip>

Irish Govts have a habit of delegating their funcitons off to agencies like the HSE and NTA so the NTA is the one we should be looking to.  Your logic: social distancing > screen > mask is very sensible.  Can you provide a link to where the NTA has said that? 

And look at the advice they gave re screens!  They basically said it was too complicated for them.  But England (not sure about UK)  has standards. 

Re masks, we're maybe unique in that out customers sit behind us, coughing at the back of our head.  Does this have implications for what type of mask we should get?  Can we add extra to the meter if we give out masks?  We know from the UK that public transport & taxis are dangerous professions re the virus.  But nada from the NTA. 

How expensive would it be to include the word 'taxi' in their ads/press releases?  They certainly found the money when the Black drivers were complaining about racism.  A worthy cause but a virus that kills is perhaps just as important.  And it's more lethal to BAME people than white people.

The reality is the NTA are treating taxi drivers better than most other motorists .

How so?  They've treated us like shit.  As pointed out already, on 29 July, they said masks were to be compulsory and they'd keep us informed.  2 weeks later, the law changed re masks on buses/trains but no mention of taxis.  A month later, a wishy-washy masks 'should' be worn sneaked out on their website.

They have put more effort into regulating the bandages in our boot than trying to keep us alive and healthy.

[mercenary for hire]

We're self-employed.We don't have to work at all.The NTA only guide us they don't employ us.

I'm a little bit confused about what the NTA is for many drivers.Somehow because they're in charge of licencing you guys think that they're on he same team as us.Many of yis aren't grasping the self-employed thing.

Do yis think the Plumbers/barbers are waiting for their regulatory bodies/unions to issue guidance on COVID 19.They all refer to the HSE for guidance in the workplace.

[watty]

We're self-employed.We don't have to work at all.The NTA only guide us they don't employ us.

I'm a little bit confused about what the NTA is for many drivers.Somehow because they're in charge of licencing you guys think that they're on he same team as us.Many of yis aren't grasping the self-employed thing.

Do yis think the Plumbers/barbers are waiting for their regulatory bodies/unions to issue guidance on COVID 19.They all refer to the HSE for guidance in the workplace.

Just in case we meet a deaf person, we have to have a pen/paper in the boot.  Or we can't work
Just in case we see a fire, we have a fire extinguisher in the boot.  Or we can't work.
Just in case we see a child needing a bandage, we have bandages (with best before dates!) in the boot.  Or we can't work.
Just in case the pax can't see the big fuking yellow thing on the roof, we have door stickers.  Or we can't work.

Just in case 10,000 drivers in Dublin could infect thousands of people with a life-threatening virus?  Or vice versa?  Well, you're on your own, lads.

[mercenary for hire]

We are on our own though.Your duty is to keep you and maybe your family safe.

The government has offered money to stay off.Read between the lines and realise that we're surplus to requirements until the economy opens up fully again.

[Theoneandonly]

The NTA have been deplorable, they have been delinquent in their obligations to the taxi business.
Rather than help us through this pandemic they have actually placed obstacles  where others have tried to help
For example"
1- NCT extended the renewal dates by 6 months the NTA left the Taxi renewals the same meaning the two dates are out of sync and drivers had to attend during the outbreak/
2- Driver licensing, removing drivers from the APP despite them causing delays both art the carriage office (not processing payments) and then not processing dashboard IDs
3- Licence Suspension, forcing us to suspend our licence in order to avail of the insurance reduction offered by Insurance companies, then forcing drivers to re increase premiums after 3 months or face increased renewal costs, problems for drivers refitting needlessly removed tamper proof stickers
I could go on but why bother?

I reduced my premium and didn't suspend my licence or remove my stickers, I couldn't see any rhyme or reason for it, just red tape bolloxology, I simply took off the roofie unlinked from the APP


I like most reduced my insurance and put the taxi on hold for 3 months but i never sent back the daisys, I had no issues renewing my licence yesterday or never asked for a letter from my insurance company to say my insurance was reinstate  to taxi.

[Shallowhal]

Speaking to the bro earlier,renewing his 5 yr licence,paid for it over two weeks ago,no receipt yet,rang them and they said it was sent but must have got lost in the post,he asked when it was sent......she didn't have that information!!
Sending out a new(probably original) receipt.