92% of taxi drivers in Northern Ireland have received the second Financial Assistance Scheme payment

Almost all taxi drivers in Northern Ireland who have applied for the second Taxi Driver Financial Assistance Scheme have now received their payments.

Over 5,000 taxi drivers applied to the Department for Infrastructure for the second Financial Assistance Scheme, which was set up to help drivers who have struggled to earn a living during the pandemic.

Nichola Mallon, Deputy Leader & Minister for Infrastructure, confirmed that within one week of the scheme closing, payments have now been issued to 4,651 taxi drivers.

Mallon added that officials are now working at "pace to process remaining cases".

In January, Mallon received support to provide a further financial assistance scheme to the taxi industry worth an additional £1,500 to each eligible driver.

Mallon said in a recent Tweet: “Big thank you to the team at the Department for Infrastructure who worked so hard to get so many payments out so quickly. Work is ongoing to get the remaining applications processed. We know these are tough times for taxi drivers and we want to help.”

The second scheme is to provide financial assistance to taxi drivers whose insurance did not cover the full six month period of the existing scheme and will provide further assistance for all drivers from 1 October until the end of this financial year.