I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Grace Lynch, the 16-year-old girl who tragically died, killed in that horrific scrambler collision on Sunday. We have all seen the heartbreaking footage of Grace's mother Siobhán addressing a vigil last night as she described the unimaginable pain of watching her young daughter take her last breath. I pay tribute to Siobhán Lynch for showing such courage in the face of such outright grief and for calling for changes to the law so that no other family has to endure that trauma. As a parent, I can only imagine the horror of their ordeal on losing their beautiful daughter in this way. It is not just Finglas; the entire country is shaken by Grace's death. I know we are all conscious the criminal justice process must be allowed to take its course but the misuse of scramblers, quad bikes and e-scooters is a nationwide problem, a scourge across so many communities. We have seen a failure of enforcement, a failure of regulation, a failure of political will and a lack of urgency from Government in tackling this. I welcome the Taoiseach's robust comments that our roads must be safe and that everything must be done to remove scramblers from our roads but we need action. This is not a new issue. The catastrophic injuries caused to Ilabek Avetian by a scrambler bike in a Dublin park back in 2018 should have been the wake-up call. It is not just scramblers; we know that e-scooter-related brain injuries now account for over a quarter of paediatric neurosurgical admissions in Temple Street hospital. Families are burying their children. We need to band together on this in this House. Let us resolve to expedite the solution. The Taoiseach will have Labour’s full support in facilitating any necessary law or policy change to address this scourge but we have to see urgent action from him. Scramblers are not toys; they are powerful machines. They are being used to intimidate on our streets. They are lethal weapons. They are often unregistered and used illegally by inexperienced riders in public spaces, parks, estates and streets. They are sitting in storage right now around the country, being sold and loaned out by individuals who know they will be misused. Some are adapted to break speed limits, endangering not just the riders, but everyone around them. We need enforcement that is visible, consistent and effective. We welcome new Garda powers but we need to see more. Four years on, the specialist Garda drone unit set up to tackle scramblers is still not being used due to delays in establishing a clear legal framework. The Minister for justice has said work is ongoing on a code of practice for using the drones but we need far greater urgency. The Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, speaking on the radio this morning, gave little reassurance and no sense of urgency. How will the Government move beyond sympathy and robust words? What action will it take to remove scramblers from our streets and public spaces? Will it consider an immediate freeze on the use of all scrambler bikes until the necessary enforcement mechanisms - robust enforcement mechanisms - are put in place urgently?

Sentiment score: -0.02

I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment to taking urgent action to remove scramblers from our roads and to address illegal usage of e-scooters and quads, but we need action. I am grateful to my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock and Ahern, who point out practical things that could be done now. We were promised 150 additional road traffic gardaí. Let us see those gardaí in place because this is about enforcement. Let us the see the sort of actions that have been taken elsewhere. In Manchester, drone units have been deployed to track illegal use of scramblers. In the Netherlands, authorities are seizing imported vehicles that do not meet regulations. I have spoken about, and we all know about, e-scooters that are modified so that they break speed limits that have been set in law. This is about enforcement. I say again let us have an immediate freeze on the use of scramblers in any public spaces while we ensure there is a robust enforcement mechanism in place. Clearly, it is not in place now and we are all seeing it. I have given that one example of the code of practice on drone usage. There is one very practical thing that can and should be done urgently. What about mass confiscations of vehicles that do not meet regulations?

Sentiment score: 0.11

The Garda does not need additional powers. Let us get additional gardaí to do this. This must be a watershed moment.

Sentiment score: 0.00