Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The unlawful use of scramblers and quad bikes must be extremely difficult, especially in city places and highly built-up communities. I can well imagine the frustration, upset and dangers this is causing for residents in those areas.

The main users of these scramblers and quad bikes are young people. We need to focus on the positive things that young people do. Unfortunately, with this situation, that is not what we are doing. If there is wrongdoing, then it is right. However, I look at situations where we tried to turn things around in my constituency with our young people and Garda youth awards. This encouraged young people to keep away from mischievous behaviour or crime. It turned their lives around in some ways. Some of those kids were going in the right direction but more may not have been. Garda Damian White and others in west Cork have been strongly pushing this initiative. It has succeeded each year, with 20 young people getting a youth award and focusing their minds more positively. If that is the way that these communities could travel, they should certainly look at it.

I am in a community alert group in Schull. We have a young person of the year award aimed at encouraging young people to do right in their communities. Unfortunately, some go wrong and end up in unlawful situations with scramblers and quad bikes, which sometimes leads to drugs and so forth. There are facilities for them. However, such a facility in west Cork, Cara Lodge in Enniskeane, was closed recently. It was a treatment centre for young people who needed help with addiction and other issues in their lives. They would probably have been well able to turn it around if they had had that little bit of encouragement. Sadly, the Government – I raised it here with the Taoiseach - refused to intervene. Unfortunately, the HSE refused to give the funding and the centre for young people in Enniskeane in west Cork is now closed. That is an indictment of where we are going. We are taking our eye off the ball and easily criticising young people here.

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