Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is unbelievable that we are back in here yet again debating legislating for scramblers and quad bikes, despite the scourge of these bikes on communities. It appears to me that the Government has no interest in dealing with it. I say that on the basis that my colleague, Deputy Ellis, and I brought a similar Bill and motion before the Dáil about three years ago and both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against it. In that three-year space, when there would have been ample time to deal with the scourge of scrambler and quad bikes on communities, the Government did nothing. The Government has come in here with a reactionary amendment to the motion that we put forward instead of being proactive in recent years.

We have all known that these vehicles are an absolute scourge on communities and cause havoc in them. That has included the deaths of six people over the five years leading up to 2019 and one further death this year. So many other people have been seriously injured.

We also know that local green spaces and recreational areas have been destroyed by these bikes. People in those communities and residential estates have been living in fear. We are coming up to Christmas, and we know the problem is set to get much worse than it is. As other Deputies said, every year we ask parents to be responsible and to not buy these quad and scrambler bikes for their children, because they are not toys and are not fit to be driven by young people in public areas.

Almost half of the incidents where people are injured or killed by these bikes involve children under the age of 18. Gardaí have said time and again that they cannot adequately deal with the problem, and that they need stronger legislation to back them up. The Minister knows that, however, because she has been told that numerous times. Under the current law, these bikes can only be driven, legally, on private land and can only be seized when they are used on public roads and footpaths. That leaves a legal gap when it comes from public recreational spaces and green areas within housing estates.

Further to that point, gardaí have been instructed not to give chase to these vehicles for safety reasons, and we can understand that. If the gardaí had the legislation, however, they could act. Our proposed legislation, therefore, would give powers to gardaí to seize and detain quad and scrambler bikes being driven dangerously in a public space, including recreational green spaces, and it makes it an offence to use a quad or scrambler bike in a dangerous manner in a public space. I hope this issue will be addressed and that the Minister will support this motion. Instead of tabling an amendment to this motion as a reactionary thing, I hope she will back it and the forthcoming legislation.

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