Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I accept and understand the argument Senator Higgins is making, and there is a certain validity to it. However, I also have to listen to other Senators and Deputies state this is long-awaited legislation and describe the real threat to people, particularly in parks, streets or urban areas, where people very threatened and very much endangered by the use of these scramblers. The Bill includes a provision for a garda to be able to stop a person, take down his or her address and other details and, if necessary, require that person to dismount, or to seize. However, we all know, and it is what I am hearing from other Senators and Deputies, that it may not be an applicable power in this case, because by definition, the nature of these scramblers is that they are very fast and often driven in a very threatening manner. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, for a garda to be able to protect the public in that way. It is only applicable in light of those conditions where a garda has the ability to seize a vehicle outside a premises. I understand the concerns around that. There are protections provided for where anyone would be able to apply within two months to the District Court to get the vehicle back, or state in an application why it was not appropriate for it to be taken. It is the balance of rights and concerns that I have to assess.

I hear the Senator's concerns, and I can understand them, but I also hear the concerns of so many Senators and Deputies who, on this issue, have been emphatic. They say that unless we give An Garda Síochána these sorts of powers, we will not be able to protect people from what is a very threatening use of these vehicles, not in every case but in many cases. I cannot accept the amendment.