Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The genesis of this issue, and of the different perspectives from which we are coming at it, arises from the definition of a mechanically propelled vehicle in law. There is an ambiguity in this regard. For instance, the Minister referred in his answer to a vehicle being powered by mechanical means. He needs to clarify his answer in that regard because it raises a question as to whether he meant a vehicle that can solely be powered by mechanical means. The Minister left out the crucial word "solely". He has effectively dragged electric bicycles into this grey area along with electric scooters on account of the vagueness of his answer. He gave a similar answer to a previous parliamentary question.

As anyone who uses an electric scooter or who has watched the RTÉ "Prime Time" report on them knows, it is impossible to achieve 100% of any journey on an electric scooter without manually intervening. One needs a manual intervention to start up these vehicles, and must reach 5 km/h via manual propulsion to start them. It is only then that an electric motor kicks in, and one continues the journey from there. The journey is, therefore, not 100% mechanically propelled and, accordingly, it is commensurate under the current law with electric bicycles. There is no threshold for which a mechanically propelled vehicle can be defined in law currently. The vagueness of the law needs urgent clarification. The incomplete understanding of various State agencies is exactly why there is ambiguity right now. That ambiguity is precisely what will end up being challenged in court and it, therefore, needs to be clarified in law urgently.

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