Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will follow on from what Deputy Ward said. When he was mayor of South Dublin County Council he suggested that scramblers were being used in pairs for drug-dealing. I was not aware of that. He also pointed out that scramblers are also used safely. I presume there are locations in the Dublin mountains where they can be used. Such safe use needs encouragement and support. I am also glad to see that Deputy Ward is back after his illness, which I was sorry to hear about. I am glad he is well again.

Deputy Gino Kenny made the point that we should take a positive approach and even encourage young people who are using scramblers to learn about the mechanics of motorbikes. Successful approaches in this vein were taken by an organisation called City Motor Sports in the past. It worked with children who were stealing cars and I have seen it working in other locations. I would support that approach. It is all part of what the Department of Justice is working on.

While none of us disagrees with the need to deal with the scourge of illegally used quad bikes, scramblers and other vehicles, both on public and private land, we also agree that any legislation we introduce to deal with this issue must be robust and good enough to allow An Garda Síochána to deal safely and effectively with the problem. It also has to withstand any challenges that might arise in the courts. The issue has always been the difficulty with enforcement. When deciding whether to give chase to a scrambler rider in a public park, a Garda member has to be mindful that the rider is more than likely a child. The garda must also be aware of innocent bystanders who could be badly injured or worse in a high-speed chase, which may spill out onto the public road and put vulnerable road users in danger. The Bill does not address this main issue and by seeking to use a number of different criminal justice Acts, all of which define "public place" differently, to prosecute scrambler drivers, it could cause serious legal confusion.

Forthcoming legislation from the Department of Transport will ensure that scrambler and quad riders and owners can be prosecuted and their vehicles detained without the need for high-speed pursuit, which could endanger more people.

The Government and I look forward to working constructively with the Opposition on this legislation because we are all in favour of solving this problem in a way that is effective and works for everybody.

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