Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I accept that the legislation is in place but I wish to raise two or three issues in this regard. First, I am interested in what the Minister said about public parks because, in a sense, it contradicts something that was said to me by our local gardaí. I will bring this to their attention.

The second problem concerns tracking down those using scrambler bikes because they are not registered. If they were registered, gardaí could photograph them and chase them up afterwards. Since there are no registration plates on such motorbikes, it is not so easy for gardaí to track them down. That is why I specifically suggested that when somebody is buying such a bike for a minor, they should have to produce evidence to show their age and that they have a relevant licence.

I am concerned that we will have deaths over this. The Minister is well aware that deaths have occurred as a result of joyriding in cars, although I am surprised that this has not yet happened in my area. I would be happy to show the Minister some of the videos that have been sent to me. If he looks at them he will see what is likely to happen. In a recent video, there were buses and cars on the road while the scramblers were going up the wrong side of the road as well as taking roundabouts the wrong way. They also lifted the motorbikes so that only the back wheel was in contact with the road, while being videoed by the pillion passenger. There is a real need to re-examine this issue.

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