Road Traffic Offences
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

I know it has always been an offence to drive scramblers dangerously in a public environment. I also know that in a public place, there is absolutely no safe way to drive a scrambler. That is what the difference is. There is no safe way to drive a scrambler in an urban environment. I trust the Minister on the enactment of regulation that will bring through the provision. I would like a sense of the timeframe from the Minister because we all watched Siobhán Lynch last night. The pain in that mother's voice is an absolute line in the sand moment for us.
There is a mother and a family who are grieving but also committed to changing a situation that is impacting their whole community, their whole city and beyond. They deserve a sense of a timeframe for the regulations to be advanced. Will it be a month or two months? That is a justifiable ask. If the Minister cannot shed light on that today, maybe he could make a public statement on it by the end of the week. However, we have to go further. I understand legislation takes time but as the Minister said, there is cross-party agreement. There is nothing stopping us from getting emergency legislation through, if necessary.
If a person seeks to buy a scrambler for sport, I absolutely understand that. There are still clubs. There is one up on the Alfie Byrne Road and I am sure there are others around the country. I am also conscious people need them on farms and in other rural environments. There is no reason why that cannot be linked to some form of identification number from a registered supplier so that when you purchase them, there is a number allocated. That way, they are a restricted vehicle. All of us would agree with that. They do not belong in any public place.
Let us ban them. I understand that is happening and we need a timeframe but let us go further and regulate them. These are the vehicle of choice for the transportation of drugs in my community and others. Let us get in front of that now and start the process.

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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