Kildare taxi driver Gerry Kealy has been driving taxis since the 1990s and said the prices for wheelchair accessible taxis have skyrocketed
Online applications for a grant to help taxi drivers purchase wheelchair accessible vehicles closed in less than 20 minutes on Monday morning, leaving many drivers disappointed. The National Transport Authority said it received 2,000 applications before the portal was shut, according to RTE.
Under rules introduced in 2010, new vehicle licenses are only available for wheelchair accessible taxis, with the maximum WAV Grant increased to €17,500 in 2023 to reflect rising vehicle costs. The next application round will open in July.
Kildare taxi driver Gerry Kealy, who works with nursing homes, was unable to secure a grant despite being online before the portal opened at 10am.
"When we couldn’t get in at around 10:05am, I rang NTA," he tells RTE. "Nothing was happening on the computer. We tried and tried."
"When we got through eventually, it said it was closed. It was all done."
Mr Kealy has been driving taxis since the 1990s and said the prices for wheelchair accessible taxis have skyrocketed.
FreeNow has called for an expansion of the scheme to meet demand and improve accessibility.
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