Marie Sherlock

Overall sentiment: -0.24
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I too must raise the report from Children's Health Ireland, CHI, today. There are one to two e-scooter-related incidents presenting to emergency departments every single day, with a 50% increase in traumatic brain injuries over the past 12 months. As we rise today, I have to ask how in all conscience we can walk away from here, knowing that every day for the next eight weeks, a child is going to be injured due to an e-scooter. I listened to the Garda Commissioner yesterday calling for a full ban, and the Taoiseach said something similar during the week. I believe that is a cop-out. The reality is that e-scooters are a legitimate form of transport for many people out there, but they are also used as a form of intimidation, particularly in the communities that I represent in Dublin Central. We know that enforcement is the issue, but I am fed up because I do not think there is a sense of urgency. I hear what the Tánaiste is saying today, and I welcome that meeting next week. However, I stood here for a Topical Issue last week when the Minister for justice effectively said that there were powers and they just needed to be enforced. That is not good enough. The reality from a public health perspective - I do not say this lightly - is that we need to impose a temporary ban on e-scooter use over the next six weeks to give the Minister for justice, the Minister for Transport and An Garda Síochána the time to get their act together so we have the special pursuit, so we have the registration, so we have the ban and so we have the right policy in place. Will the Government rule out a permanent ban on e-scooters? Will it introduce a temporary ban to give time to make sure we can get our act together and take seriously what is a public health crisis in this country?

Sentiment score: -0.24