Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today I rise to ask for a debate. I am unsure how specific it should be. It may be to talk about green spaces in general or limited to the 2018 cross-agency group set up by the Department of Justice.

The group maintains the problems is caused by scramblers but for me it is about trying to reframe the conversation. The reason I am bringing up the matter today is because over the weekend I read the plans and proposals for a park in Tallaght and the reinvention of the park there that has become completely void of use in so many senses. I was excited at the idea that a park might have some creativity and imagination put into it.

When I was younger we heard about the problem of horses. I never saw a problem with our use of horses. If anything, it was one of the most exciting and formative times in my life. We would go around to the local men who ran stables from the backs of their gardens. They taught us how to look after, mind and ride horses. We saw the craftsmanship that went into the making of sulkies.

Now, I look at young men on scramblers. It is a problem only in the sense that we are not providing adequate, safe or organised space for young people to invest in their interest in understanding and looking after the bikes. In the 1990s Fr. Liam O'Brien and a local woman, Catherine Tynan, in Killinarden set up stock car racing. They tried to be creative in addressing the fact that there was a great deal of joyriding at the time. It was a great success but it did not get the support to continue.

We need to be creative in how we look at our green space and communities. One suggestion for the park in Killinarden was for an orchard. I was baffled at the idea that what we have all been asking for in Killinarden is an orchard. How does that even make sense? People talk about the fact that the pitches are ruined because of the scramblers and that young people do not want to have to be taken chase by the gardaí. They would love somewhere where they could be licensed and trained to use those spaces. Another recommendation was for a skate park. That sounds lovely but for every person we see on a skateboard in Tallaght, there are 50 scramblers.This too misses the point of the social fabric and social context of the community. Skate parks and orchards are nice, but are they what we are seeking? Most likely not. It is not joined-up, creative or imaginative thinking. The solution in so many estates has been to build a wall because that will stop scramblers entering or cars being stolen. How about just building a scrambler park or spaces that are adequate to enable people to live in and use their communities in a safe way? A request from the GAA club to extend the boundary wall so that the club would be within an enclosed space and the pitches could at least remain intact was refused. The authorities do not like building fences in parks but they will build walls at every entrance to the park to stop scramblers entering. It does not make sense. I ask that we return to the working group on scramblers that was set up and include a conversation on how we can creatively use green spaces.