A lot of us have submitted Topical Issue matters on related issues. I want to focus on the number of children presenting in Temple Street Hospital with head injuries from the use of e-scooters. This is an issue that we have heard the clinicians, in particular, Irwin Gill, neurodisability consultant, speak out on for some time. It is now, however, becoming acute. One of the statistics I find most concerning is that all these child injuries and long-term head injuries have all happened since the legalisation of e-scooters. Before we had e-scooters and a regulatory regime for them in May 2024, kids were not suffering these head injuries. They were not getting access to the e-scooters. It is important to note that all the kids being treated by Irwin Gill and others in Temple Street Hospital are not supposed to be using these e-scooters. If they are in a children’s hospital, they are all necessarily under the age of 16. This is something we need to tackle urgently, even if this includes going to the level of mandatory insurance for e-scooters.

Sentiment score: 0.08

It is not the Minister of State’s fault. He is here to read out the responses he has been given. It is, though, a really pathetic response from the Department of Transport to say it "does not retain specific data on these issues". To be fair to the Minister of State in the Department, Deputy Canney, he has stated publicly what is being done in trying to examine every measure to respond to this issue. In fairness to him, I know how aware he is of the injuries. We need to take decisive action. There are no easy answers. A draconian ban is perhaps not conducive to mobility in this city. However, we need to look urgently at licensing the use of e-scooters because the facts are what the facts are. There are children with head injuries in Temple Street Hospital, and the number has been growing at a significant rate since the regulation of e-scooters in Ireland.

Sentiment score: -0.04

There is the glaring reality that we in these Houses and the Government have to be honest about - a law was passed in 2024 to regulate e-scooters. Some countries have no regulation of e-scooters but what has actually happened since we made e-scooters legal to purchase in Ireland is that more children have life-long head injuries and are showing up in Temple Street. That is the regulatory regime we in these Houses passed. This is despite every effort by the Garda and others to encourage parents not to purchase e-scooters for their kids - they should not have them. I see in my own constituency gardaí seizing e-scooters right, left and centre. Parents get very upset when they are seized and the gardaí get it in the neck from them. There is very little from an operational point of view that anybody can do. We have to seriously consider the growing number of kids presenting in Temple Street and examine what is taking place in other jurisdictions. It is an issue being discussed among neurosurgeons across the world. In Queensland they have to wear helmets but it does not make much of a difference in terms of the children presenting. It is the e-scooters, the road surface and the kids using the e-scooters on the road surface.

Sentiment score: 0.06