John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague Deputy Curran for raising this issue and for the Minister for dealing with it.

Deputy Curran mentioned Kingswood in my constituency. That would be only one of a number affected by the use of quad bikes and scramblers, however. In Killinarden, one resident described 99% of the open space designated for public use in that estate being destroyed by 1% of the local community.

An issue arose during the snow earlier in the year. I refer to the incident at Lidl in Jobstown. The Garda in Tallaght has only one four-by-four vehicle. If a garda rocks up in a Ford Focus to deal with somebody on a scrambler or a quad bike, he or she simply has no capacity to catch that individual. There is a resource issue involved too.

I welcome the information the Minister supplied regarding a cross-departmental approach and local authorities being involved. There needs to be a promotion of available space for people to engage in scrambling. Both our constituencies are close to the Dublin Mountains where there are opportunities for legal scrambling and the legal use of these vehicles. Local young people should be encouraged to move in that direction.

I thank the Minister for his continued interest in this issue.

See this speech in context