Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes in this Chamber we face deep levels of frustration and I wonder whether we are making any progress on the issues before us. Today is not one of those days. While this is a very wide-ranging Bill that in many ways will help us meet some of our key climate action targets, I want to focus on the amendments relating to scrambler bikes. The term Teachta Dála, messenger of the people, is an interesting phrase because who knows what messages were sent here from the people? We meet many people during an election campaign and hear about many issues. All of us know the things we were sent here to try to fix. The issue of scrambler bikes was one that I was sent here to resolve. I am very pleased to see the amendments to the Bill which go a long way to changing national policy on this issue and solving the issue on the ground.

Last year, I was deeply disappointed that despite it being part of the programme for Government, replies that I initially received from the Department appeared to be very similar to replies provided for the best part of a decade, suggesting that there was no obligation to have new laws, that there were issues with the definition of a public place and the belief that the Garda already had sufficient powers.

It is said that success can have many mothers and fathers. It is important to acknowledge the people who helped us to get this across the line. It starts with the Taoiseach, who at an early stage identified this as an issue similar to the issue of joyriding in the 1980s and 1990s in Cork. He realised that it would not be solved by one measure, but by a range of measures. I thank Deputy Lahart for the work he did and for allowing me to co-sign the Bill. After that Bill was introduced, the Taoiseach convened a meeting of a Cabinet subgroup attended by the Ministers of State, Deputies Naughton and James Browne, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, before she took her short leave, and their officials. It became clear that the support of the Attorney General would be needed in addressing the legal issues. I am grateful for the work of those in the Office of the Attorney General, without which we would not have these amendments. I am also grateful for the willingness of the Department of Transport to grasp this nettle and solve the issue.

What does the Bill do? It introduces fundamental and substantial changes to the law. It grants powers to gardaí on the ground. That sends a message to those in the constituency I represent and many others. For ten years people attending safety forums have been saying they cannot understand why gardaí could not respond to this issue. When a scrambler bike tore up and down the road with innocent families on the road terrified and their children in danger, when communities and sports clubs despaired over delayed matches or when shoppers saw someone doing a wheelie on the main street in Finglas village or elsewhere, they could not understand why nobody was doing anything about this. The belief was that nobody cared. Today we are saying that we very much care and that these laws will resolve the issue.

The Bill introduces a new category of vehicle, a new offence, a new power to seize and dispose and a new obligation to reclaim from the District Court rather than from the Garda station. Other Deputies have rightly identified the issue of interception as being key. That was what put people in danger. It put the gardaí pursuing these vehicles in danger. It put the children who should not be driving these vehicles at their age in danger and it also put innocent people in the vicinity in danger. The decision to give the powers to the Garda to seize a vehicle from the curtilage of the property means that gardaí now only need to follow the vehicle at a safe distance and when the vehicle is on that property, it can be seized. That is fundamental and will prevent people dying in order for us to solve this problem. It will also deal very toughly with those people who purchase and use illegal scrambler bikes thereby endangering their neighbours and friends in their community.

While I was very tough on resolving the scrambler bike issue, the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, was very keen to introduce a measure for young people engaged in this activity. I have been involved in youth work for years - long before I was involved in politics. I was pleased with the Minister of State's commitment because I was very focused on the legal changes, but he introduced a new scheme which I understand many local groups in my area and other areas have applied for. Funding will be put in place to resolve this issue.

As I said, success can have many mothers and fathers. I acknowledge the Deputies in this Chamber, including my constituency colleagues and many other people, who have continued to raise this issue. On this side of the House, we have had the ability and opportunity to make this change because we are in government and we have access to Ministers and their officials. I take nothing from the commitment of other Deputies who have been speaking about this issue for many years. In a short time during the term of this Government, we have managed to resolve this issue. It is now over to the Garda to administer it.

I ask Members to do everything they can to get at least this portion of the Bill across the line because communities out there really need it. They should do everything they can to ensure the Bill is dealt with as quickly as possible and that it gets to the President's desk and is signed so that communities throughout the country know that not just this Government but also this House understand this issue and we are willing to do it. If we send that message, there is an opportunity for the Government to deal with the many other issues in our community, such as open drug dealing, unemployment and dereliction.

There are many challenges outlined in the programme for Government and this is an example of how committed both my party and the other parties in government are to resolving some of these long-standing matters that have been spoken about for too long and on which there has been too little action. Today is a good day to be a Member of Dáil Éireann.

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