Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Scrambler and quad bikes have been the bane of our communities for several years.

It is not uncommon for a person driving along the Neilstown Road or in Bawnogue, parts of Lucan, Knockmitten or anywhere else in Dublin Mid-West in his or her own car to be confronted by a young person coming towards him or her on a scrambler. As often as not, such young people do not have a helmet or any protective clothing whatsoever. According to the Road Safety Authority, 48% of incidents related to scramblers and quads involve persons aged under 18.

As someone who has, in the past, driven motorbikes for a living, I know the danger in which these people are putting themselves. Not only are these scramblers endangering their own lives, however, they are also endangering the lives of others. This total disregard must be tackled. One should be able to go about one's business in one's own community without the fear that scramblers and quads bring. The illegal use of quads and scramblers is the scourge of my community, in which residents and the public are plagued by people doing wheelies, tearing up football pitches and generally using quads and scramblers recklessly.

It has already been said that we are coming up to Christmas. I, for one, am sick to the back teeth of being woken up on Christmas morning by the noise of scramblers and quads in my community. I urge any parents who are considering buying a scrambler for their child to realise the very real danger in which they are putting that child and the impact it will have on their neighbours.

I will also raise the very real issue of scramblers being used for the transport and dealing of drugs. It is common knowledge in parts of my community that unscrupulous dealers are using young people to deliver and sell drugs. Unfortunately, using children as drug couriers is not a new phenomenon. Using kids to deliver drugs by scrambler, however, is relatively new. Dealers adapt to their environment in order to carry out their illicit behaviours. The problem is that the law does not adapt quickly enough to tackle this. While this motion is not directed at the illegal drug trade, it would go a long way towards stopping the grooming of children for use as drug couriers.

Last month, Sinn Féin tabled a very sensible motion on fireworks and public safety. We saw a lot of nodding along and agreement with the rationale behind the motion from the Government benches, but the Government parties still voted against it. The public can clearly see that the Government is playing politics with people's quality of life and how safe they feel within their own communities. This is another motion that makes sense. The issue of scramblers has been raised by the Government in the past. I urge the Minister to do the right thing for the communities she says she represents and to support this motion.

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