I want to express my deepest sympathies to the family of Grace Lynch who was mowed down by a scrambler and who died as a result. No words can console the family. Nothing that I can say can in any way ease the devastation, the pain, the hurt and the anger that Grace’s family feels right now. I understand that anger, and I understand the devastation that they are going through. They have lost a beautiful daughter who should be going to school and who should be with her friends today. There is an investigation under way. We did act at the time in respect of legislation. I recall that Deputies across the House – including, on our side, Deputy Paul McAuliffe, in particular, and Deputy John Lahart – pressed for legislation to deal with the scourge of scramblers in our communities. As a result of that and of work involving the then Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, the Minister, Deputy Browne, and Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, legislative changes were brought through the House to tackle the scourge of dangerous driving and the antisocial use of scramblers and quad bikes. Those changes were introduced by means of the Road Traffic Act 2023, which dealt with dangerous driving becoming an offence everywhere not just in public places. It is difficult to comprehend that was not the state of play before that. An Garda Síochána has been granted new powers of seizure. There is also a power in that legislation to provide for the prohibition or the restriction of use of classes of vehicles in particular places. As a result of that legislation, in 2024 and 2025 about 300 scramblers and quad bikes were seized by the Garda. That is not enough. There is a third aspect to this. I am convening an immediate meeting of the Departments of Transport and justice. I had to convene a meeting in 2020 or 2021 to start the ball rolling and get the legislation to which I refer done. There was a degree of resistance at the time and claims to the effect that it could not be done and so on. It was done. However, the final regulations need to be dealt with. They should already have been. I am very clear about it. In my view, it will happen. It should have happened in terms of the formulation and dealing with of those regulations. I understand fully the anger of people in working-class areas, particularly Finglas. There is no need for and there should be no scramblers on public roads. We have it within our power to make that happen, and it will happen. That said, nothing can ever ease the devastation the Lynch family have experienced as a resulted of the loss of Grace from that collision the other night. The Deputy can rest assured we are. I have spoken to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, this morning. That work needs to be completed. Progress was made on a number of fronts but that needs to be completed. Is uafás den scoth é seo. Tá sé uafásach ar fad. Is olc an scéal an méid atá tar éis tarlú i mbás Grace Lynch. Déanaimid comhbhrón lena clann ach ní leor é sin. Caithfimid an reachtaíocht a chur i bhfeidhm ina iomláine.

Sentiment score: -0.04

First of all, I do hear the anger from the community and we are going to act. Also, I know that the Minister for justice has spoken with the Garda Commissioner. He is attending to this immediately and treating this with the upmost priority in terms of the enforcement side of it. On the legislation in terms of seizures and so on, the Garda did act in a number of areas and despite what one hears, it was in a position to seize many of these. In terms of pursuing scramblers, there is a pursuit policy. I believe the Commissioner is going to review that with a view to taking a more intensive approach in relation to it. The more fundamental point is that the remaining part of this legislation has to be enacted and commenced to take these scramblers off our roads as is provided for, despite what gets said, in the primary legislation this House passed on 2023.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I fully agree with what she said on the courage of Siobhán Lynch in respect of the loss of her daughter Grace and pursuing with great clarity the need for absolute change. The legislation has been passed by this House. I convened a meeting a number of years ago to set that in train and the legislation was passed. Additional powers have been given to the Garda and additional laws have been passed as a result of that. In particular, dangerous driving has become an offence everywhere, not just in public places. An Garda Síochána has been granted new powers of seizure and has used those powers. Close to 300 scramblers and quads have been seized as a result of that. The third element is that the Department of Transport has been working with the Garda to finalise a straightforward ban in areas where they are being used. I am convening an immediate meeting between the relevant Departments to get this done. My view, and the advice from the Attorney General is very clear, is that it does not need additional laws to do this. It will be done. I have made that very clear to all Ministers and officials. There are significant powers in place to intervene, confiscate and prohibit such vehicles on our public roads. Related to that, we have to move with speed on e-scooters. The level of injuries being reported from consultants in emergency medicine, particularly brain injuries as well as physical injuries, is far too high. People might have welcomed them some years ago, thinking they were a new mode of transport, but they are now a very significant danger to the public and to those using them. They have to be regulated. We have to take a really hard look at this because of the level of injuries to young people, in particular, who use such vehicles. The scrambler issue, for me, is very straightforward. Scramblers have no place on our roads. There is a lot of other activity related to them, as someone referenced during the day, in terms of illegal activity, perhaps, in some cases and the utilisation of scramblers in particular.

Sentiment score: -0.00

I agree with the Deputy and I appreciate her offer of engagement and co-operation. The code of practice will be finalised and I know the Minister has spoken to the Garda Commissioner in relation to this. The newly appointed Garda Commissioner is very clear on the prioritisation we attach to this issue. That code of practice in respect of drones and their utilisation in detection and so on will be done now. Also, the commencement of the regulations on that last aspect of the 2023 Act, most of which has been commenced, will also happen.

Sentiment score: 0.34

First, I reject the spin the Deputy has put on the legislation the Cabinet approved today in respect of rent. Fundamentally, to summarise, what we are now looking at is national rent regulation and national rent control across the entire country. That is an outcome of this Bill. There will be strengthened protection for renters through the introduction of tenancies of minimum duration. That has not happened before. There is an effective end to no-fault evictions. It includes the establishment of a rent price register, which brings much needed transparency, and arrangements to reset rent to market rate only every six years. That is part of a wider set of measures the Government announced over the past 12 months, which have laid the foundations for significant movement and progress on the housing front. The Deputy forgot to say that the tenancies of the over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not be impacted in any way by this legislation. Deputy Cairns just ignored that and spun it differently. She deliberately misled people by saying what she said, in terms of the spinning of it and so on. The measures are only for new tenancies that start from 1 March. That is very clear. In our view - Deputy Cairns may differ - this is the most significant improvement in rental protection in the history of the State. From now on, when tenants sign a lease, they can have far more confidence in terms of where they are living. They will be there for a minimum of six years. The restrictions are much more significant now than they would have been on landlords in terms of eviction. I make the wider point that the Housing Commission recommended that we reform the rent pressure zones, RPZs. That was a very clear recommendation from the Housing Commission. Yes, we are balancing but there is very strong protective regulation here. We must also increase supply. I argue that what Deputy Cairns and her party have proposed for the past two or three years would dampen supply and disincentivise investment and would not have any significant impact in terms of reducing rent. That is inescapable in terms of the Deputy's idea of a rent freeze. It is all very popular but it would undermine the rental market very significantly and to such an extent that you would have a depression in supply. We want more supply and we need more supply, obviously. Already, the indications are quite positive in respect of both the budgetary measures on VAT and these particular reforms. It is also interesting in terms of a fairer system. Dr. Michael Byrne from the school of social policy, social work and social justice in University College Dublin has made the point that what is being missed in the current discussion is that the new legislation is designed, once established, to reduce the level of notices of termination.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I did but I noticed the Deputy's supplementary question was pre-scripted. I have no issue discussing with the Deputy. Let us put the scripts away and let us debate it. Let us talk. I do not use scripts all the time. I am just saying that I made a few points-----

Sentiment score: -0.05

No, the point is this. It is clear the Deputy was not listening to what I was saying. She just has empty soundbites that she just pronounces. They are good. They sound well but there is a desperate lack of substance in what the Deputy is saying about housing. I equally argue the Social Democrats have not come up with solutions.

Sentiment score: -0.08

Earlier, the Deputy spoke about a construction company. How long does she think that will take to set up?

Sentiment score: 0.00

That is why those kind of policies do not resonate with people because they do not see solutions there either. I acknowledge housing is a huge issue. It is an enormous issue. It is the number one issue facing our society. We are throwing the kitchen sink at it in terms of public sector investment. We are trying to get additional private sector investment in because we must. Deputy Cairns does not want to tolerate private sector investment and she is against it.

Sentiment score: 0.03

We need €20 billion a year to get to 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year. Let us put aside the soundbites and ask ourselves a question. How do we get to 50,000 or 60,000 houses per year because that is what is required?

Sentiment score: 0.00

I thank the Deputy for raising a very grave issue, particularly in the context of the deaths of Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley. The Minister for justice met with Andrew in late November. We will reflect on what he has articulated very passionately. We are also conscious that this is a very challenging area in respect of the rights of all concerned but also the issues of mental health. I will seek an answer as to why the HSE took the position it did. The coroner has clear powers under the Act in terms of organising the conduct of the inquest and so forth. I acknowledge that there are issues here in respect of how we, as a society, deal with familicide and how we deal with these issues. In more recent times, we are witnessing parents coming forward or the family coming forward with very serious issues and who feel their concerns and issues are not being listened to by those in authority. On the other hand, there are also very clear issues of an ethical kind that are not immediately reconcilable with the need for 100% transparency. It is not simple; it is very challenging, but we have an obligation to listen and then to act in the best way we can to try to meet the concerns of those who have lost their children in horrific and very traumatic circumstances. I am open, and I know the Ministers will be too, to engaging with Mr. McGinley and others in terms of how we can move this forward.

Sentiment score: 0.23

There are public interest issues and these issues are complex. It is my understanding that the new Mental Health Bill currently before the Seanad will provide for the appointment of a nominated person who can be involved in a person's care. However, I think the Deputy is talking more in terms of the inquest, the nature of that inquest,-----

Sentiment score: 0.32

-----the level of information that is put forward and the avoidance of any over-restriction in terms of information that may be put forward. I would like to discuss this later with the Ministers for Health and justice and the HSE to get their perspective on it. There clearly are issues here. I readily acknowledge that they need to be pursued and that those who have lost loved ones as a result of horrific events of this kind need to be listened to and heard.

Sentiment score: 0.25