Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues for bringing forward this legislation. I say specifically to those Deputies from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who are opposing it that they will have to face their own councillors because it is their own councillors, along with councillors from Sinn Féin and other parties, who repeatedly bring these issues up at council meetings and community meetings. What they are told time and again is that the legislative framework to deal with this issue is not there. The gardaí are hampered in how they can do their job. Most people who use quads and scramblers do so entirely without incident and appropriately, but there are those who use them in an anti-social way. Just as my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, said, I could bring the Minister of State to Swords or Balbriggan and introduce him to people whose lives are scourged by out-of-control use of these vehicles and youths doing wheelies in playgrounds. There are kids who cannot cross the road to go to the local playgrounds because they are afraid. We know that the HSE has presented evidence on injuries so we know this is a serious health and safety issue. What we do not know is why there is no willingness between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to address this problem.

My colleague, Councillor Malachy Quinn, has raised this at meetings of the joint policing committee of Fingal County Council. The issue needs to be dealt with because the consequences of not doing so are catastrophic in some cases and, in others, can be fatal. We cannot afford to be complacent about the issue; we need to take action. I think Fine Gael's councillors want action taken - we know that the gardaí do - and I can tell the Minister of State on behalf of the people whom I represent and who are scourged by this that they want to see action taken.

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