Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In my constituency scramblers is an enormous issue. I could today take the Minister of State to one large park which is surrounded by a number of private and council estates, a very vibrant community with very active sports clubs, boxing clubs and community sector, but in which the lives of perhaps 1,000 households are daily negatively affected by the unrestricted use of quads and scramblers. We have a task force we set up on the council, with council officials, gardaí and the local community doing everything they can within the existing legislative framework, but the problem is not getting any better. The council is spending tens of thousands of euro on CCTV and the gardaí are putting in whatever additional resources they can, but what they are all telling us - gardaí, council officials, communities and residents - is that the legislative framework does not work. The specific proposal contained in this Bill is absolutely vital to empower them to do their job.

All I will say to the Minister of State is if he is not convinced by the merits of our arguments, he should come and spend a day with me in Clondalkin. If he spends five hours with me talking to residents of St. Cuthbert's Park, he will see very clearly the need for this legislation and the other actions people are mentioning. If Fine Gael votes against this, as I hear Fianna Fáil will, it will be letting down these residents. If the Minister of State comes and spends a day with us, I think it will change his mind very quickly.

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