What the Deputy has described is horrific for Sandra - I did not get her surname - and her son Jayden. It is something that we are going to deal with very robustly. The legislation in terms of Grace’s law was enacted on 3 April. We are now in the middle of July. I know the Garda Commissioner is speaking to the Oireachtas committee as well. There has been very proactive seizure of scramblers and, indeed, of e-scooters. About 2,000 e-scooters have been seized since 2024 and about 418 scramblers have been seized since 2024. The impact of these scramblers is horrific, as we know in the context of the appalling killing of Grace Lynch. I met Siobhán and Martin and I know how committed and dedicated they are to ridding society of this scourge. We will use every lever at our disposal to do this. The Minister for Transport will be working with the Minister for justice to bring in legislation to ensure that gardaí are protected while in pursuit of anyone on a scrambler or e-scooter. The Minister for Health has sought a full and comprehensive report from CHI in respect of injuries to children as a result of e-scooter accidents. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Seán Canney, is looking at all options in respect of e-scooters, including a full ban if necessary. There are options open to the House in terms of regulation or a full ban. The expectation is that the report from CHI will be of profound consequence in terms of what will be detailed in respect of the impact of e-scooters. In respect of scramblers, they are now explicitly banned for any use in any public place. The Minister for justice and the Garda Commissioner are continuing to examine any further actions they can do to clamp down on the illegal use of scramblers and e-scooters. There has been some progress in terms of Operation Meacán and operations of that kind. The Commissioner will give a presentation today to the committee in this regard. Operation Meacán looks, in particular, at the use of electric vehicles for criminal activity across the Dublin metropolitan area. Significant days of action have been carried out as a result of that, with e-scooters and e-bikes seized during the operation of Operation Meacán. I refer to the resources, the equipment and the legislation. It is not just about legislation. It is now about enforcement and it is also about ensuring that gardaí are protected as they enforce this law and this regulation. Irrespective of new laws, gardaí obviously have to weigh up and balance their interventions at given times in terms of the pursuit of some of these people, particularly those on scramblers. People are fed are up of it, however, and people have had enough of this. We are determined, with An Garda Síochána, to do everything we possibly can to rid scramblers from public places. If that does not transpire in terms of their continued frequency, we may have to look more at what would ordinarily be seen as extreme action in respect of scramblers more generally and what they are purported to be originally used for. I think we will have to look at every option in respect of this issue.
Sentiment score: 0.11
As I said, vehicles are being pursued on an ongoing basis. This idea that there is not pursuit-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am talking about generally. The idea that gardaí do not pursue criminals or activities is wrong. Yes, there have been cases, unfortunately, taken against gardaí. That is why the Ministers are bringing in additional legislation to protect gardaí while in pursuit. Even with that legislation, we all know judgment has to applied in given situations because pursuits are dangerous in themselves. It could be potentially dangerous to innocent bystanders or pedestrians. We had similar situations in different times which ultimately we got control of. It was not scramblers then; it was joyriding and all of that. We got control of that through various mechanisms working together. We have to do the same now in pursuing this issue. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Canney, will be back to the House in terms of regulations for e-scooters or a ban on e-scooters, which I must say I am leaning towards myself.
Sentiment score: -0.05