{"id":283092,"date":"2026-02-06T01:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T01:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/283092\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T01:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T01:37:07","slug":"calls-for-gardai-to-use-dna-spray-that-tags-scrambler-riders-bikes-for-future-prosecution-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/283092\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for garda\u00ed to use DNA spray that tags scrambler riders, bikes for future prosecution \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government should follow international best practice including that of the UK<\/a> in dealing with scrambler and quad bike misuse<\/a> because \u201ccommunities want to see people being prosecuted\u201d and their bikes seized, the D\u00e1il<\/a> has heard.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> TD Dessie Ellis<\/a> said British police have been using a DNA spray which tags riders and bikes. \u201cThis spray is an invisible uniquely-coded dye which aids in the identification of an offender allowing for future prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dublin North-West TD is a long-time campaigner about the illegal use of scramblers and in 2012 introduced unsuccessful legislation to give garda\u00ed powers to seize and dispose of scramblers.<\/p>\n

Speaking during a debate on road safety Ellis said police in Britain use drones to track offenders \u201cthereby avoiding the dangers of a high-speed chase\u201d. They have also used \u201ctrained specialised scramblers to pursue and apprehend riders\u201d.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed<\/a> have been trained in drone use but are not allowed to use them because of a lack of legislative clarity.<\/p>\n

Intense debate on scramblers followed the death last month of Grace Lynch (16) after being hit by a scrambler at a pedestrian crossing in Finglas, Dublin.<\/p>\n

Minister of State with responsibility for Transport Se\u00e1n Canney said new regulations would be introduced \u201cwithin a matter of weeks\u201d, to \u201cstrengthen the existing powers\u201d garda\u00ed have to seize scramblers.<\/p>\n

Since legislation was introduced in 2023 more than 1,000 scramblers, e-scooters and quad bikes have been seized, he said.<\/p>\n

The regulations \u201cwill explicitly prohibit the use of vehicles such as scramblers in a public place, while continuing to allow for legitimate off-road recreational and agricultural uses\u201d. <\/p>\n

They will \u201calso increase the charges that accrue each day after a scrambler has been seized to reduce the number of seized vehicles that are released and end up back on our roads\u201d. <\/p>\n

Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan said \u201creckless behaviour, selfish choices, excess speed, drink and drug driving, distracted driving and not wearing a seat belt are all choices and behaviours on our roads that lead inevitably to death, destruction and despair\u201d. <\/p>\n

He pointed out that road deaths had dropped from 472 in 1997 to 133 in 2021. They rose to 190 last year.<\/p>\n

Labour transport spokesman Ciar\u00e1n Ahern said resources were needed for \u201crelentless enforcement\u201d. The public was promised 150 new roads garda\u00ed two years ago but only got about half.<\/p>\n

There were 1,300 garda\u00ed in the traffic force in 2009 but now there were fewer than 650 while \u201cabout a million new cars have been added to our roads\u201d.<\/p>\n

Government backbencher Emer Currie said \u201cthere has been a loss of confidence in our road safety strategy and Government must act now to restore it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dublin West Fine Gael TD pointed to claims by the Department of Transport that garda\u00ed had full access for the past three years via their mobility app, to the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF). It records licence status, disqualifications and penalty points. But garda\u00ed said \u201caccess was partial\u201d. <\/p>\n

Since December, all Garda members are believed to have full NVDF but \u201ceven now, I do not have full confidence\u201d they and insurance companies have that access, she said.<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il Galway West TD John Connolly welcomed proposals to reduce the speed limit in urban areas to a \u201cdefault\u201d 30km\/hour but said it was unclear what local authorities were to do in relation to schools on national roads.<\/p>\n

He called for \u201cdirect guidance\u201d to be given to local authorities to ensure the speed limit, \u201cat least around the time of school operations\u201d would be reduced to 30km\/h at those spots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government should follow international best practice including that of the UK in dealing with scrambler and quad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,15049,131739,61,60,18573,43,11318,104799,3415,303],"class_list":["post-283092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-dail-eireann","tag-dessie-ellis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jim-ocallaghan","tag-news","tag-road-safety","tag-sean-canney","tag-sinn-fein","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}