Metered Taxi fares in Dublin and the rest of Ireland must not be charged at more than the national maximum taxi fare .
The National Transport Authority (“NTA”) sets the maximum metered taxi fare .
Only metered taxi journey fares are controlled . Hackney and limousine journeys are not controlled – they are pre-booked and, therefore, both passenger and driver are aware of the journey details and the fare agreed for the journey in advance.
The NTA approved an average increase of 12% on taxi fares from 1st September 2022, this was the first increase in taxi fares since 2017.
The NTA say that the average increase was12% but the increase will be more on short trips (under 15 kilometres) and during premium times. This is to try and incentivise taxi drivers to operate at times when demand is at its peak
Our example fares work out as an increase of 17% for a premium rate journey of 10.5km compared to fares before September 2022.
Maximum Metered Taxi Fares in Ireland (From Sept 1st 2022)
| Time Periods | Initial Charge for first 500m or 85 seconds) | Charge for the next 14.5km (or 42 mins) | Charge after 15km or over 43 minutes |
| Between 08:00h and 20:00h Monday to Saturday, except public holidays | €4.20 | €1.30 per km or €0.46 per minute up to €23.20 | €1.65 per km or €0.58 per minute |
| Between 20:00h and 08:00h Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sundays and public holidays | €4.80 | €1.71 per km or €0.60 per minute up to total €29.60 | €2 per km or €0.71 per minute |
| Christmas Eve from 20:00h to St.Stephen’s Day 08:00h and between New Year’s Eve 20:00h and New Year’s Day 08:00h | €4.80 | €2 per km or €0.71 per minute | €2 per km or €0.71 per minute |
Example Taxi Fares :
Maximum Charge for a 10.5km taxi journey for 1 person (assuming no stopping and fast traffic).
- Mon to Sat between 8am and 8pm : €17.20 (could be around €27 in heavy traffic)
- Mon to Sat 8pm to 8am and on Sundays/Public Hols : €21.90 (could be €30 in heavy traffic)
- From 8pm Christmas Eve to 8am St. Stephens Day : €24.80 (could be €37 in heavy traffic)
Sample Taxi Fares in Ireland 2023
| 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday | 8pm to 8am Monday to Saturday, All day Sunday and All day on most public holidays. | Christmas Eve 8pm to 8am St. Stephen’s Day . New Year’s Eve 8pm to 8am New Year’s Day . | ||||
| Journey | ———– | ————– | ———– | |||
| 5.5km | €10.70 | €13.35 | €14.80 | |||
| ——- | ———- | ——— | ||||
| 10.5km | €17.20 | €21.90 | €24.80 | |||
| ——— | ———- | ———- | ||||
| 25km | €39.50 | €49.60 | €53.80 |
Christmas Taxi Fares in Ireland
There is a perception that Irish taxi fares on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day can be very expensive – but that is not really true. (These figures apply to metered taxis only).
On a shorter journey – the maximum metered fare on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve is about 45% more than a standard fare (Almost “time and a half” .) But it is only 13.5% more than a normal Saturday or Sunday night fare.
On a longer journey – shown in the examples above – the Christmas Day/ New Year’s Day fare is only around 8.5 % higher than a normal Saturday night fare.
No wonder it is so hard to get a taxi on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. Would you work on Christmas Day for just 8% more pay than a normal Saturday night ?
Allowable Extra Taxi Charges
A Booking fee of €2 may be charged for a booking made by telephone, email, smartphone app, fax, text or letter, or a booking made through a personal visit to a dispatch operator’s office.
Charges for Extra passengers : – taxi drivers may charge a fee €1 for each adult passenger after the first. In relation to additional child passengers, one child under 12 years of age is carried at no extra charge; the fee for two or three children under 12 is €1; for four or five children €2; and for six or seven children €3;
No extra charge should be made for carrying luggage or an assistance dog.
From Sept 2022 – all taxi drivers will be required to have a cashless payment device which is defined as a physical card machine that can be used for contactless payment or chip-and-pin payment.
The Initial taxi charge is fixed and covers any distance up to 500 metres or a time period of up to 85 seconds. After that, the fare is calculated based on the distance travelled or, if the speed drops below 21.2 km/h, the journey time. See the table below for details.
You can ask for a discount before taking a taxi. Taxi drivers have the right to charge the amount calculated on the meter, but they can charge less if they want.
If you want to complain about being overcharged by a taxi driver – you can do so at the Transport for Ireland website
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