Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I ask him if he could try to make it a little longer in future, maybe by adding a few paragraphs, so we can go through it in the time we have and really get into the nuts and bolts of the issue. I look forward to the publication of the Government's legislation in the coming weeks. I also thank Deputy Farrell for his contribution because if we can move forward and support the legislation, we will do so, if it helps in our community, the Deputy's community and everybody else with a stake in the issue. The intention is to provide legislation that helps everybody in our community.

I acknowledge it is important we work together in the coming weeks, that we do not put this on the long finger again and it is not delayed. The political point Deputy McAuliffe made in his contribution was fair, but what he failed to mention was that all of the parties have been in power during the 25 years I have been talking about this issue, bar one. There has been ample opportunity over the past 20 to 25 years I, and others, have been talking about this issue to bring in that legislation. I commend Deputies Ellis and Munster on bringing this forward in 2017 because it is part of the process of pushing whatever government is in power at the time to enact this type of legislation. This is part of that process. I like to think if we had not published this, there would be legislation in the coming weeks anyway.

On the issue of a positive approach mentioned by Deputy Gino Kenny earlier, I have been involved in working with young people at risk in the Coolock-Darndale area for the guts of 20 years. Many of those young people were engaged in activities with scramblers, and other activities, that would not be seen as pro-social. I do not want to use the term "antisocial". It is very important when we talk about young people to bear in mind it is a tiny minority of them who are engaged in this activity. It is important on one level to ensure services are in place, whether it is school completion because young people are at risk of early school leaving, or the Garda youth diversion programme, which Deputy McAuliffe and I sat on together in the Kilmore area. Some incredible work was done by youth workers in that area in dealing with, supporting and trying to bring those young people onto a different pathway.

It is critically important legislation is in place to allow the Garda to deal with anything that is criminal and is causing harm to other people and, I would say, also causing harm to the people who are doing it. We also have to have the other elements. I spoke to members of a motocross group in Dublin 15 whose members talked about how they would like to get involved in the project the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, brought forward. They were excited about that piece of work because they have a track. The irony is Mulhuddart is probably the only place within the Dublin area that has a track, as far as I know. It still does not eliminate the problem because not everybody will want to go onto a track and behave in an appropriate way. It is important to recognise there will always be young people engaged in activities who will want to do it correctly, who will want to train and who will want to make a career out of it. Some people in my area have made a career out of it and are experts. To see them go up and down the track is phenomenal. However, as I said, there are others who do not want to do this but want to go up and down our green spaces, parks and roads and will cause, not harm because they are not doing it deliberately, but the consequences of their actions could possibly cause harm.

The one thing that concerns me and, again, I would have liked to have a little more time to go through the Minister of State's contribution, is in the definition of a public space, parks and open spaces. That is the crux of what we are talking about today. I am very concerned because the Garda, and anybody who is engaged in this, is telling us that the law is not in place for them to do anything. Part of the Minister of State's contribution described quads and scramblers as mechanically propelled vehicles that should be taxed and insured. That is not actually correct. If you have a quad on a private farm, private land or wherever it may be, you do not need to have it taxed and insured.

I am a little concerned that elements of the Minister of State's contribution are not technically correct. When we talk about parks and open spaces it is critical that it is clear what they are. The Garda should have clarity on that piece because that is the crux of it. I know, as everybody does, that if I drive a quad, motorbike, car or whatever it may be on a path or road, I have to have tax, insurance and a licence or else I could be arrested, charged, my vehicle seized and so on. That is clear and everybody knows that but it is not as clear when it comes to parks and open spaces. Having read the Minister of State's contribution, I am still a little concerned that it is not clear about this. I hope, when we look at the legislation in the next couple of weeks, it becomes clearer and is absolutely defined for the Garda.

All the Deputies talk to members of the Garda on a regular basis. Many of them will talk to us off the record about how they feel about things. Their number one issue is that they do not have the resources they need. That is clear. They are telling us on a daily basis there are not enough gardaí to deal with what is going on within our communities. That has to be sorted out and solved because it is part of the problem. They are telling us they do not have the laws and legislation in place to deal with this. That is very clear. They have told us that time and again at safety forums and in public. Senior gardaí have said it in public. I am little concerned that in parts of the Minister of State's contribution he said there are laws in place and that we are trying to put in laws where laws already exist. If that was the case, I would not be standing here. I would be going to senior gardaí to ask them to enforce the laws that are already there.

Another part of the Minister of State's contribution, towards the end, concerned the legislation in place in relation to parents and the fact that if a person buys a mechanically propelled vehicle for a minor it is a criminal offence. My next question to senior gardaí is: how many people have ever been charged with that offence? I would be pretty certain that it is nil. Why is that the case? It is not enforced. It goes to the crux of what I said earlier. We can have all the laws we want in place but if we do not enforce them and do not give the Garda the resources, equipment and training they need, the laws are utterly useless.

As I said, I look forward to the legislation, to contributing again on this issue and to inputting in a positive way to get it across the line so we can ensure all our communities are safe in the end.

See this speech in context