Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

By then, the Minister could be Senator Ross again, the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, could be the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy Rock could be chairman of the joint services committee. Who knows what anybody will be doing? It is standard procrastination, a case of giving a slap on the back and saying "keep up the good work" or "I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue" but let us kick it down the road. That attitude will ensure that all those scooter users in all of the urban parts of our constituencies will continue to break the law despite the fact they are seeking to ensure that their carbon footprint is only 26 g per mile as opposed to the 292 g per mile we are all guilty of at the moment.

There are issues with age and drink-driving, although it would never be envisaged that people would be under the influence while driving these scooters. There is also the issue of speeding and the issue of fines. However, these are all matters for Committee Stage. Do we no longer back ourselves in this House to be capable of handling Committee Stage of a Bill or to be cognisant of the outcome of a public consultation? Even the Road Safety Authority could not do a bit of googling to find out what the approach to this was internationally and it had to waste taxpayers' money talking to the Transport Research Laboratory in London to find out that there is no universal approach internationally. My seven-year old could have told us that.

Do we want to deal with this issue or do we not? We are being given the standard response that the Government does not have the time or interest in looking into it, so let us kick it down the road. I understand the political nature of this. My friends in Sinn Féin and other parties might take the opportunity not to support a Fianna Fáil Bill as it is easier to support procrastination by the Government because there may be electoral gain from doing that. However, I do not doubt the commitment of Deputies Ellis or Mitchell as both are urban-based Deputies and they see the need to deal with these issues.

Of course, there are many issues. It is safety first, but let us acknowledge the fact that these vehicles exist. We must legislate for them. We must ensure that decent people doing their best for the environment are provided with adequate regulations and guidelines. I am panicking because the Minister of State talked earlier about licensing. I suppose we will not recognise licences from the UK or the United States and we will create an administrative merry-go-round to do something that is simple. We cannot do what is simple in here because, in the main, the 158 Deputies in here are treated like muppets by the system. How could we legislate on our own? We will have to get KPMG to do that and get PricewaterhouseCoopers to do something else. When there is not one locally, let us go over to the Transport Research Laboratory in London to find out how to tie our shoes instead of using some basic common sense. E-scooters exist, they are being used and they are illegal. They have less of a carbon footprint, they are economical and they are positive in terms of congestion. However, we are incapable of doing anything and we have to be second-guessed by anybody.

We are forgetting that we are in here representing the people, defending them and trying to do what they need, not defending the system which is so strangled and obsessed with administration and bureaucracy, and needing to have the insurance that this was tried and failed in 100 countries before we could back our own ingenuity and initiative to make a few rules to cater for something that is simple. I hate to quote Boris the Brexit buccaneer, but if only the Minister could embrace one infamous comment that particular man in the UK has become famous for over the last couple of weeks: "Let us just get this done".

On that basis, we will not be supporting the Fine Gael amendment. There could be two general elections between now and then and, as both Ministers of State clearly underlined, the Minister "may" or "might" act based on an "if". As I said, the Minister may be Senator Ross by then, so I do not believe a commitment exists. We must, therefore, put this proposal to a vote.

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