Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Ivana Bacik (LAB), Dublin Bay South

I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment to taking urgent action to remove scramblers from our roads and to address illegal usage of e-scooters and quads, but we need action. I am grateful to my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock and Ahern, who point out practical things that could be done now. We were promised 150 additional road traffic gardaí. Let us see those gardaí in place because this is about enforcement.
Let us the see the sort of actions that have been taken elsewhere. In Manchester, drone units have been deployed to track illegal use of scramblers. In the Netherlands, authorities are seizing imported vehicles that do not meet regulations. I have spoken about, and we all know about, e-scooters that are modified so that they break speed limits that have been set in law. This is about enforcement. I say again let us have an immediate freeze on the use of scramblers in any public spaces while we ensure there is a robust enforcement mechanism in place. Clearly, it is not in place now and we are all seeing it. I have given that one example of the code of practice on drone usage. There is one very practical thing that can and should be done urgently. What about mass confiscations of vehicles that do not meet regulations? The Garda does not need additional powers. Let us get additional gardaí to do this. This must be a watershed moment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27