The Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, report on e-scooter related injuries for children is shocking. It reported that between January 2021 and August 2025, there were 1,130 attendances at CHI emergency departments due to e-scooter related injuries, and that over the past 12 months, there has been a 50% increase in the number of children and young people being admitted for traumatic brain injuries. We know that many have been injured and some killed, due to scramblers. Earlier this week, we had Grace Lynch's parents in the Oireachtas. We recalled her horrific death. I also raised the horrific injuries suffered by a young boy, Jayden Deans, as a result of scramblers.

We know that both scramblers and e-scooters are being used by gangs to distribute drugs, to openly and actively intimidate, and to evade the gardaí and, yet, we heard the Garda Commissioner say that there would be no chance of pursuit training until next year because of the EU Presidency.

I found that really shocking. We have laws that are not enforced. We have communities left to their own devices. We have a situation that is literally out of control. The question in relation to e-scooters and scramblers is what is going to happen. We have laws that are not being enforced. We have gardaí who will not actively pursue. Then, in the case of e-scooters, we literally have the wild west. It is putting people, particularly young people, in danger. Communities are actively intimidated, terrorised, injured and far worse.

I thank the Deputy. I have a big, long note here, which I have no intention of reading out because I think this issue is at a really critical stage. I met Grace Lynch's parents, two incredible people who are really trying to make society safer after the loss of their daughter, Grace.

On the e-scooter issue, from memory, I heard somebody say it was the number one reason that children were now ending up in ICU. It is quite an incredible thing to say: the number one reason children end up in ICU in Ireland is because of e-scooter accidents. I have heard a lot of comments in recent days. Do we ban them? Do we very quickly move to put in place a more robust regulatory system because there is not one in place today? I have an open mind. This is now at a tipping point where we need to move, and move quickly. Certain members of the Government, including the Taoiseach and I, are meeting on this early next week. I would like to see a swift set of proposals come from the Government on this. I am happy to keep the Deputy updated on that.

In the past year, the number of children admitted to Temple Street with brain injuries from accidents on e-scooters has increased by 50%. I think we have agreement across the House that this is an ever-worsening public health crisis at this point. It is clear that the ban on under-16s using e-scooters has been a monumental failure. We need a new approach. As the Tánaiste has just said, instead of a ban, we need regulation that is workable and enforceable. We have some proposals today that the Tánaiste might consider ahead of his meeting next week. It is crucial that we have a mandatory vehicle registration system where we register not only every e-scooter, but every rider. We also need to ban the sale or supply of e-scooters to children or young people under the age of 16. Crucially, gardaí must be given the resources and the appropriate training to be able to pursue and enforce what is current legislation.

The fourth piece, the bike-to-work scheme, has been an incredible success. What we know is that a significant portion of the parents who have bought these e-scooters for children and young people did not know they were doing anything wrong. Instead of a ban, what I am asking is that the Government consider a scheme that will allow parents and children to hand back these e-scooters and be given a bike in return. It is a healthy alternative. It is not punitive, and it gives the Government something of an opportunity to show that we are taking this seriously, alongside the regulation.

What a constructive contribution. This is the sort of thinking we need. I thank the Deputy for that. I do not 100% know what the right thing to do here is, but what I 100% know is that the current situation is extraordinarily dangerous and needs to change. I do not say this to blame parents, but there is an issue here. It may be awareness, as the Deputy says, but there is a real issue here. Kids are not saving up their small sums of pocket money, going into toy stores and buying these scooters. Parents are buying these scooters for their children, perhaps out of ignorance, perhaps out of whatever else, but we need to look at that issue. I am not saying that to blame anybody, but it is a fact. What happens at the point of purchase definitely has a role.

I am somewhat sympathetic to rank and file gardaí, who are asked by this House to enforce laws that are often very challenging for them to enforce in terms of their own safety. We have all seen tragic situations where gardaí in the line of duty put themselves at risk in roads policing, and there have been fatalities as well. With scramblers and e-scooters, is there a way of helping with technology or registration systems?

The Deputy has made very good, constructive suggestions, and I thank him for those. If he is happy to send them to me, I would be happy to put them into the mix. This is something where, if we are unified as a House in saying the current system is wrong and not sustainable, and that we are going to take swift action, I really hope we can move on together very quickly.

I too must raise the report from Children's Health Ireland, CHI, today. There are one to two e-scooter-related incidents presenting to emergency departments every single day, with a 50% increase in traumatic brain injuries over the past 12 months. As we rise today, I have to ask how in all conscience we can walk away from here, knowing that every day for the next eight weeks, a child is going to be injured due to an e-scooter. I listened to the Garda Commissioner yesterday calling for a full ban, and the Taoiseach said something similar during the week. I believe that is a cop-out. The reality is that e-scooters are a legitimate form of transport for many people out there, but they are also used as a form of intimidation, particularly in the communities that I represent in Dublin Central.

We know that enforcement is the issue, but I am fed up because I do not think there is a sense of urgency. I hear what the Tánaiste is saying today, and I welcome that meeting next week. However, I stood here for a Topical Issue last week when the Minister for justice effectively said that there were powers and they just needed to be enforced. That is not good enough. The reality from a public health perspective - I do not say this lightly - is that we need to impose a temporary ban on e-scooter use over the next six weeks to give the Minister for justice, the Minister for Transport and An Garda Síochána the time to get their act together so we have the special pursuit, so we have the registration, so we have the ban and so we have the right policy in place.

Will the Government rule out a permanent ban on e-scooters? Will it introduce a temporary ban to give time to make sure we can get our act together and take seriously what is a public health crisis in this country?

There is certainly an urgency across this House. I do not say this to be provocative on an issue where I hope we can all work together, but nobody on any side of the House has brought forward legislation to try to make progress. We have had multiple Private Members’ measures, but let us all work on this together. It is not a question of nobody being urgent, and I am going to push back very firmly on that. We are all alarmed at this. We have all heard the doctors in Temple Street. We all want to take action on this. While this House might be in recess next week, I will be at a meeting about what we can try to do in relation to this issue. I do not think anybody meant a ban as a cop-out - I genuinely do not. I think people are so horrified by what is happening that everyone is trying to grapple with what the right thing to do is.

There is also a legitimacy to the point the Deputy made about how it is a legitimate form of transport for some people. We see this working in other European countries. We see it in our nearest neighbours. I do not want to get the regime wrong, but I think they have registration at the point of purchase that allows people to track this. There are things that can be done that can perhaps achieve the same aim. The aim is to stop children ending up in ICU and to improve our road safety. I am very happy to work on a cross-party basis and with relevant Ministers.

I am not sure. I say this only to be helpful because I do not know the truth, but I know that we live in the European Union. I am not even sure of the legality of a ban. The honest answer is that I am not sure, but I am absolutely certain that the current situation cannot continue.

I am happy to keep in touch, even over the summer months. If the Deputy wishes to correspond with me, I am happy to come back to her.