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

I welcome the recent Garda action against scramblers and quads in Tallaght, Ballymun and Limerick. However, it is just a drop in the ocean in terms of the problems and dangers on the roads that these vehicles, which mostly young people drive, pose. Two weeks ago, I was cycling up Dame Street and watched as three scramblers came down the street on one wheel. That is one of the main streets in our capital city. They are totally confident nothing will be done to tackle them, just like in our communities. There is total impunity to drive these as dangerously as they wish. I welcome the response I got to a parliamentary question that the Garda has purchased a number of drones which are being trialled by the air support unit. I hope they are utilised against these scramblers. I call on the Minister to raise with Garda Commissioner the issue of a dedicated scrambler unit to tackle this scourge. It is nothing new; it is nothing unique and these units are being established across Britain and used across the world.

I would also like to raise an issue of immediate safety in my constituency and that of the Minister of State, which relates to the new development that started in Kellystown. The developer started major groundwork using trucks adjacent to schools in Luttrellstown. The traffic management plan was rejected by Fingal County Council and a new one was requested with the schools in mind. Unfortunately, now that it is being dealt with by enforcement, it seems that the developer is continuing to do the works in those fields near St. Mochta's and Luttrellstown schools. It seems there has been no stop to this despite the fact that no traffic plan is in place. Perhaps that can be looked at with stronger legislation to prevent this from happening.

An issue I have raised previously, which I know the Minister of State is aware of, is the Porterstown Road. It is a stretch of road with a 60 km/h speed limit. We have asked continuously for the speed limit on this road to be reduced to 50 km/h so that traffic management measures could be put in place. Fingal County Council has said a number of measures have been taken on that road already. The fact that the speed limit is 60 km/h prevents ramps being put in.

We have the church, schools, Castleknock football club, the running club, Castleknock GAA club and a hotel. There is a whole stretch on that road. There are also houses on the far side of the road to Diswellstown. There are a lot of people. This is not a country road anymore. It is a busy road, used by a huge number of young people and others accessing all the different facilities I just mentioned. Again, could a conversation be had with the road traffic department and the director of services about looking at reducing the speed limit to 50 km/h so that proper ramps could be put in on that road to slow traffic down?

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