Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will ensure that Gardaí have sufficient powers to tackle the misuse of e-scooters and scramblers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12932/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Regulations were introduced by my Department in 2024 to allow for the legal use of e-scooters on Irish roads. These regulations extend the rules of the road already in place for pedal cycles to include e-scooters, provide for technical standards and conditions for safe use and set a minimum age of 16 and a speed limit of 20 km/h. The regulations allow An Garda Síochána to issue a fixed charge notice of €50 to e-scooter users detected breaching these rules and conditions, as well as granting the Guards powers to seize and detain non-compliant e-scooters.

Scrambler enforcement powers are set out under separate legislation. The Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023, which was enacted in June 2023, aims to tackle dangerous driving and the antisocial use of scramblers and quadbikes via three key measures:

1. Under Section 5(k), dangerous driving has become an offence everywhere, not only in public places;
2. Under Section 5(p), An Garda Síochána were granted new powers of seizure;
3. Under Section 11(b), there is a new power to provide in regulations for the prohibition or restriction of the uses of classes of vehicles in particular places.