Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has done a good job in outlining many of the challenge that we face. We need to get all the Departments into a room and start looking for solutions to this problem because, as I said, there is not only one solution. The Minister of State has highlighted some of the potential solutions but the fact that there is no responsibility on parents who buy young children these bikes for Christmas or birthdays needs to be tackled. If a bike is seized by the Garda, parents can collect it the next day, or it goes out to auction and the bike is back on the street. We can end that with cross-departmental action.

There are a number of measures on which we can take strong action, including legislation and the definition of a public place. In my area of Finglas, Tesco Ireland agreed to prevent the sale of petrol to under 18s. We could challenge fuel suppliers right across the country to do the same.

I believe that a child using a scrambler bike is a matter of parental neglect and Tusla should be involved in cases where it is concerned.

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