Road Traffic Offences
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank the Deputy. I was humbled and in awe as well at the strength of Siobhán Lynch in what she said, having gone through such a traumatic event in her life. The Taoiseach said today that there is nothing we can really say that will alleviate the pain she and her husband, Martin, are going through. I received an email this afternoon from Grace's aunt, Rachel, who raised a number of issues with me. There is a change because there is complete determination and agreement across the House that the provisions within section 35A need to be invoked and regulations need to be made. The Taoiseach was straightforward here today when he said that probably should have been done earlier. There is now clearly widespread, universal support in this House for regulations to be made that will restrict and prohibit the use of scrambler bikes in public places and public parks. That is a priority.
The reason there is political consensus about doing it is that it can be done so immediately. Section 35A has been enacted. The regulations being prepared by the Minister for Transport are in an advanced stage of preparation. We now need to just do it and put in place regulations that will prohibit and restrict the use of scramblers on public roads, in public parks and public places. I agree with the Deputy. There used to be a form of sport where you would see scramblers on television going around a track or they would be in a certain area out in the countryside. People would put them on a trailer on the back of their car and bring them to the location. That is where they would use them. They were never intended for use on our public road system. In fact, it is an abuse of the system that people have been using them but this change, by putting in regulations pursuant to section 35A, will change circumstances.
The Deputy said we should go further and regulate it. The Deputy talks about regulating their sale. I have no doubt the Government will give consideration to that but the Deputy knows that when it comes to something like that, we will need legislation in place for regulation. That takes time. That takes consideration. When you are going to regulate the sale of them, presumably people who want to use them for sporting purposes on tracks or up the mountains where it is permitted will be permitted to buy them. We just need to think of the consequences of that. That is why the immediate focus and immediate pressure should be on the commencement of regulations under section 35A.
The legislation that was enacted in 2023 introduced some additional amendments to strengthen our legislation in relation to the misuse of scramblers and other vehicles. First, as the Deputy knows, it extends the dangerous driving offence to cover all locations and not just public places. Second, it gives gardaí the power to seize a vehicle being driven dangerously in any location. This legislation also creates powers to restrict the use of specified vehicles or classes of vehicles, which is now being considered. It has always been an offence to drive scramblers dangerously. I can assure the House that gardaí have enforcement powers to stop and seize the vehicle where this is the case. Members can see they have seized vehicles.
In terms of the pursuits policy that was introduced in 2024, it provides direction to gardaí who engage in pursuit tactics and pursuit management to reduce risk. Obviously, nobody in this House wants to see gardaí not pursuing people who are engaged in criminal activity but as the Deputy will appreciate, if the gardaí are pursuing somebody on a scrambler bike going through a residential area at speed, there has to be some discretion on the part of gardaí to be able to think if this is creating a more dangerous environment for the community. It requires a certain amount of thinking on their feet and discretion by gardaí, but the policy is that they can pursue.

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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