Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which the Labour Party will support. I appreciate that the Minister will be sympathetic regarding the issue being raised. There are often calls for tough Garda action regarding what happens in communities, including action against parents, young people and those who sell scramblers and quad bikes. That has to happen and the gardaí need to empowered.

We also need to understand the rationale behind why, in certain communities, this is considered to be a good use of one's time. What is often lost when we debate any sort of social ill is that we think we can police our way out of it. Policing our way out of a situation is, of course, a part of the solution. There must be a justice element involved, because a dangerous machine cannot be handed to a child, one cannot purchase something which one knows to be dangerous, and one cannot drive such a machine in a dangerous fashion. We all know that, so there must rules, regulations and restrictions laid down. We must also understand the mentality as to why this is so attractive and why so many young people feel that this is a good use of their time.

That is something which can be drilled into if it is accepted, and as was advocated for in the last Oireachtas and accepted by the Minister's party, that there is a need for a different way of policing, of engaging with communities and of understanding communities and young people. In the Dublin 5, Dublin 13 and Dublin 17 area, we have advocated for a Mulvey-style commission to engage with all the different actors in the community, so that we will not just talk to the Garda when it comes to issues such as scrambler bikes, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing or drug taking. We need to try to get in behind the statistics in terms of why these things happen. Why do young people feel empowered by this sort of activity? What is it that gives them their kicks? Why are those kicks not found somewhere else?

If there really is a passion for and an interest in the motor, the noise or the power, could we facilitate that in some kind of safe way? These questions and answers can be tossed and turned over and back with those actors in the community who know best. The Minister's Government agreed that we should have such a Mulvey-style commission for the northside of Dublin. One was agreed for Drogheda as well. We feel strongly that we are wasting an awful lot of time without having these kinds of discussions. It should not take a Deputy in the Opposition to bring forward this issue again and again for the Government to act not just on this issue, but on a wide variety of issues which are underpinned by a sense of disengagement, disconnection and disfranchisement.

It is very difficult to stand up in a community and speak about disconnection and disenfranchisement when someone is clearly engaging in violent anti-social behaviour with a motorised vehicle which is creating great noise and distress in that community. We must, however, have that conversation on some level, and that would be the type of forum in which these issues could be teased out. I am sure if we talk to youth workers, as we all do in our different communities, they would say that we need tighter restrictions and regulations and that we must also talk to parents about how in God's name they think it is sensible to hand a dangerous machine to a child. We must go a little bit beyond that as well, however, and talk about what is happening in these communities as to why young people feel that the power they get from making this noise makes them feel important. There must be a space for that conversation.

I take the opportunity to speak about the commitment of the Government and the assistant commissioner to establish a Garda station in the Dublin 13 and Dublin 17 area. I still feel strongly about that issue and want to work with the Minister to ensure it can be built. It will not solve every problem. We cannot put a Garda station in every area of disadvantage and expect that to solve all the issues. It would, however, give that hugely expanding area of Dublin 13 and Dublin 17 a sense that community infrastructure is being put in place, which most communities of that size would expect.

We support this motion and tough action against scrambler and quad bikes, but we must have a deeper discussion on what the motivation is behind young people needing to feel empowered by this type of activity. That type of conversation is worthy of us.

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