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The National Transport Authority is responsible for the licensing and regulation of small service vehicles in Ireland which includes taxis, hackneys, and limousines.
Ireland’s vehicle hire services provide wheelchair accessible taxis and hackneys.
What Are Hackneys?
You may hear the term ‘hackney’ being used. This refers to a private hire vehicle. They fall under the same licensing and regulation laws, but the cabs are pre-booked. They do not have taxi meters so the fare must be pre-agreed between the driver and passenger before the journey begins. Be aware that they cannot be hailed down in a public place.
These days modern hackneys can be booked via an app on your phone. Both Hailo (British) and Uber (American) hackney services are available in Ireland.
Get an Estimate of Your Fare
To give you an idea of what your fare will cost and to help you avoid being ripped off, the Transport of Ireland have a Taxi Fare Estimator tool.
Check If Your Driver Is Properly Licensed
There are several ways that the National Transport Authority assists you to verify that the vehicle you are about to hire has been correctly registered and the driver has the appropriate licensing to operate the vehicle.
There are two ways to verify:
- Use the Check If a Driver Is Properly Licensed feature on the Transport of Ireland website and type in the necessary information.
- You can also download the free Driver Check app from the Apple App Store or for Android devices from the Google Play Store.
This service provides verification for Ireland’s licensed taxis, hackneys, limousines and Public Service Vehicles and covers rural locations as well as cities such as Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford.
Users can search by the car registration number, the vehicle taxi licence number, the driver licence number or by scanning the appropriate QR codes. There is also the facility to email a friend the trip details.
Customer Information Cards
The National Transport Authority provides an easy to read guide that gives passengers the necessary information that they need when hiring a service vehicle. These information cards explain what to expect and what to look out for. Taxi’s typically carry these information cards and you can usually find them in the pocket behind the drivers seat.
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