Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have done a considerable amount of work on the Road Traffic and Roads Bill and there were many conversations during pre-legislative scrutiny as well as outside in the real world. What we are looking for is a system that is fit for purpose and allows us to travel as safely as possible, while taking into account the changed world in which we live. We are doing all of this in the context of COP26 and we must focus on the idea of active living and active travel.

That is why we would start with the idea of using e-scooters. I am sure all Deputies have got it from both ends at times. In my case, people in my family went out and bought an e-scooter, notwithstanding that they were prohibited. I was only too delighted when there was a problem with the battery because I would no longer have to answer for anything that may have happened after that. It just shows the necessity for this legislation and ensuring we do the due diligence that needs to be done regarding all those pieces of work. Everybody can see that the numbers have gone up in the past months and weeks, which also means people in the House will have got more calls along the lines of "I nearly got run over by an e-scooter and you need to do something about this."

We just need a system that works and, in fairness, there has been mention of what needs to be done at a later stage. Deputy O'Rourke spoke about the questions we have on helmets, high-visibility clothing, liability insurance and maximum speeds and power. We will talk about the shared schemes that have to be a major part of a workable system but, if we compare the proposed system to bicycles, my understanding of the way DublinBikes works is that users do not have to wear a helmet. That facilitates somebody to use the system, makes it a little easier and allows more people to engage in what is absolutely necessary. It is about getting to that perfect point where, as I said, safety meets a fit-for-purpose system that allows us some room regarding active travelling.

We all accept what the Minister of State said about the lacunae or anomalies that exist regarding necessary information in databases. These are all anomalies that do not make sense so we just need to sort them out. If people have committed road traffic offences, that information should be connected to licences and vehicles so it can be best used by An Garda Síochána or whoever else. It goes without saying that all those pieces of work need to be done.

We are dealing with a changed world. No more than e-scooters, e-bikes are something we are seeing a hell of a lot more of and, therefore, as Deputy O'Rourke said, we need to look into the bike-to-work scheme. Bikes have changed so the scheme has to change. I have no doubt that most Deputies have been inundated with major issues relating to antisocial behaviour associated with scramblers and quads, sometimes carried out by very young children. Again, I would not like to think what I would have done if I had access to a scrambler when I was very young, or a quad bike for that matter. It is likely I would have done more harm to myself than anyone else, but I have also seen people on quad bikes who should know better. That is why we legislate; we cannot necessarily rely on good manners. We finally have to make sure we do the work on ensuring we deal with the leverage and law enforcement part of this and the fact that we cannot allow communities to be sometimes held to ransom by people who act in a thuggish way. We need a set of procedures and we need to do all the due diligence on that. There is general agreement with that.

On the eMOS system, as Deputy O'Rourke said, we had a day out to the TII control centre. The legislation needs to facilitate the variable speed limits in this system. The only difficulty I have with this was that when I was heading home from Leinster House last Thursday that sort of facility was not in or around the Balbriggan turn-off. If it had been, I could have more speedily made my journey to a meeting in Drogheda and then home to Dundalk. These are solutions that work and we just need to work them out.

Most of the other issues have been dealt with adequately by the Deputy on my left.

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