medical for renewing your taxi drivers licence?

[Rat Catcher]

We could do with something similar to the CPC for the taxi trade. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most of the drivers up above in Dublin are immigrants, many of whom can't speak ENGLISH and  haven't a clue where they're going. A course with the current entry test to be passed every 5 years would make sense.

[dalymount]

Yet they mysteriously passed the geography test

[Rat Catcher]

Allegedly.... although, to be fair, if you could find your way to the exam hall you passed in my day... before that mean and nasty lady, Kathleen Doyle, stuck her oar in. Give it back to the Gardai I say!

[dalymount]

Or dr Leo,who qas great so he was

[Jonno]

Fat bastards lives matter!!

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[Jonno]

Allegedly.... although, to be fair, if you could find your way to the exam hall you passed in my day... before that mean and nasty lady, Kathleen Doyle, stuck her oar in. Give it back to the Gardai I say!

Yes. Ten questions of questionable difficulty. Collect yer brass badge on the way out. Thems were the days.

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[Jonno]

Yet they mysteriously passed the geography test

I'd say there's a stroke being pulled somewhere along the line. I can't say where. You could try and say that the licenses are forged, but how do you explain them being logged in to the driver check yoke? In my experience, there's more paddies not logged in on a daily basis than Johnny foreigners.

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[Rat Catcher]

It was different in Dublin, Jonno. It was a written exam but the supervisor kicked off by suggesting anyone having difficulty should raise their hand... I assumed he meant with procedural matters or interpretation but, no... men just put their hands up and asked for - and were given - the answers. I kid you not. Back then after passing the exam you had to prove that you were unemployable to collect the badge, that was the hardest part of the process!

[U Wha]

Yet they mysteriously passed the geography test

There is a lot of debate about the new Irish getting an easy ride with the taxi test. Based on my own experiences of the test I don't think it is true.

I let my old badge lapse and had to retake the 'new' test in 2017. Completely different to the old carriage office test where you had a test paper which was one of five or six test papers. if you did the PSV training course on Mount Street, the trainers knew which tests had come up recently and could eliminate them so basically they drilled the answers to the remaining questions into our heads and sent you home with the questions and answers so you could learn them off by heart. Which I did and I suspect many of our nigerian friends did too. I passed the test that way and definitely didnt know geographically where some of the places where just that it was the right answer.

When I retook the test in 2017, after driving hackneys and taxis for nearly twenty years and had got to the point where most of the time I was able to take passengers anywhere in dublin without refering to maps or satnavs. I still failed the test twice before passing on the third attempt. The three times I attended the test centre there were new irish taking the test and most failed each time. One guy was on his 8th or 9th attempt. Others had worked as couriers and still failed. In my opinion most of them pass through sheer determination, repetition and deep pockets @ €80 or so for each attempt. This was important to them as it would give them the opportunity they dreamed of when coming to Ireland. The Irish tend to moan about the Industry not being what it was, the new Irish appreciate the opportunity and get on with it.

Edit: I will say that FreeNow appear to have replaced the old PSV Training service and it seems to be effective. My brother used their training and passed the test first time.

[dalymount]

Well considering some of them (new irish ) as you call them,cannot even speak English,I find it amazing that they are passing the test

[watty]

And a lot of dem New irish have purple dash ID's so, in a way, they're more qualified than most of us!

[Rat Catcher]

... and not a fuckal of ENGLISH between them.

[U Wha]

Well considering some of them (new irish ) as you call them,cannot even speak English,I find it amazing that they are passing the test

I have heard the same rumours but I think it is unlikely they could read english and complete the test if they can't speak it.

Maybe they don't have the confidence or find it hard to understand our accent when in full flow. The Irish are known to speak quickly. My son was in New York and he had to slow down to make him self understood.

Imagine some poor immigrant that learnt english properly in a language school trying to understand some irish passenger speaking at pace using slang and either slightly pissed and /or stressed out because they don't understand the drivers own heavy accent.

When the carriage office ran the tests it was easy enough to learn off the answers and that may be where clueless individuals slipped through the net. I was one of them, I didnt know all the places but I had learnt the answers. The new test has randomly generated questions from a bank of thousands of questions. So effort is required and a bit of luck that the areas you do know come up. Thats what happened to me on my 3rd attempt anyway.

[taxi1990]

Well considering some of them (new irish ) as you call them,cannot even speak English,I find it amazing that they are passing the test

I have heard the same rumours but I think it is unlikely they could read english and complete the test if they can't speak it.

Maybe they don't have the confidence or find it hard to understand our accent when in full flow. The Irish are known to speak quickly. My son was in New York and he had to slow down to make him self understood.

Imagine some poor immigrant that learnt english properly in a language school trying to understand some irish passenger speaking at pace using slang and either slightly pissed and /or stressed out because they don't understand the drivers own heavy accent.

When the carriage office ran the tests it was easy enough to learn off the answers and that may be where clueless individuals slipped through the net. I was one of them, I didnt know all the places but I had learnt the answers. The new test has randomly generated questions from a bank of thousands of questions. So effort is required and a bit of luck that the areas you do know come up. Thats what happened to me on my 3rd attempt anyway.

Also I have been asked questions that were 5 years out of date and an estate that didnt exist. The NTA are a disgrace. I wonder when the testing will come back? hopefully not for a year or two, keep out the competition.

[U Wha]

Well considering some of them (new irish ) as you call them,cannot even speak English,I find it amazing that they are passing the test

I have heard the same rumours but I think it is unlikely they could read english and complete the test if they can't speak it.

Maybe they don't have the confidence or find it hard to understand our accent when in full flow. The Irish are known to speak quickly. My son was in New York and he had to slow down to make him self understood.

Imagine some poor immigrant that learnt english properly in a language school trying to understand some irish passenger speaking at pace using slang and either slightly pissed and /or stressed out because they don't understand the drivers own heavy accent.

When the carriage office ran the tests it was easy enough to learn off the answers and that may be where clueless individuals slipped through the net. I was one of them, I didnt know all the places but I had learnt the answers. The new test has randomly generated questions from a bank of thousands of questions. So effort is required and a bit of luck that the areas you do know come up. Thats what happened to me on my 3rd attempt anyway.

Also I have been asked questions that were 5 years out of date and an estate that didnt exist. The NTA are a disgrace. I wonder when the testing will come back? hopefully not for a year or two, keep out the competition.

That is true.