Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Existing by-laws, for bicycles and other vehicles, will be able to be applied to regulate scooters. The bike hire schemes, in many cases, are contracted through the councils and the contract conditions may allow for regulation. There will be further regulatory systems as the schemes develop and evolve. One issue relates to the lifespan of the devices. We are increasingly moving to a circular economy system and we do not want short-lived devices, especially ones with batteries. There is a strong focus now within the European Union on batteries and long-life devices that use them. The experience in some countries is that the lifespan of some e-scooters can be very short, and the waste management issues in that context are significant. I think there will be very positive developments as we create a range of new personal mobility devices, but we need to ensure they are used in the right place, governed by good by-laws, recycled properly and are long lasting and safe. We are dealing with the safety part in this legislation but the other regulations will come in separate forms, through local authority by-laws, contract arrangements and other legislation on recycling and waste management.