{"id":549832,"date":"2026-07-14T20:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/549832\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T20:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:55:09","slug":"garda-chief-backs-calls-to-ban-e-scooters-saying-society-would-be-better-off-without-them-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/549832\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda chief backs calls to ban e-scooters, saying society would be \u2018better off\u2019 without them \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly<\/a> has said he agrees with calls for a ban on e-scooters, saying society would be \u201cbetter off\u201d without them. <\/p>\n

He made the remarks at the Oireachtas justice committee where Martin Lynch, the father of Grace Lynch \u2013 who died after being hit by a scrambler bike<\/a> \u2013 said scramblers, e-scooters and e-bikes have \u201cbeen a scourge to this country for years\u201d.<\/p>\n

New regulations \u2013 known as Grace\u2019s Law<\/a> \u2013 came into effect in April to fully implement a ban on the use of scrambler motorbikes in public places.<\/p>\n

However, e-scooters are legal for over-16s at a maximum speed of 20km\/h.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Tuesday, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said he is \u201cleaning towards\u201d a total ban on e-scooters as the D\u00e1il discussed the issue following incidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries.<\/p>\n

Grace Lynch (16) died after being hit by a scrambler as she used a pedestrian crossing in Finglas in January. A man later appeared in court charged in connection with the incident.<\/p>\n

At the justice committee Siobh\u00e1n Lynch, Grace\u2019s mother, was asked if she had a message for parents considering buying a scrambler or e-scooter for a child.<\/p>\n

Lynch said it would be: \u201cStop \u2013 otherwise you\u2019re the one that\u2019s going to be in the graveyard visiting your child.\u201d She also said: \u201cI\u2019d love to see them banned.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Conor Pope: \u2018A close shave with a Dublin bus made me reconsider commuting by e-scooter\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The commissioner said what Martin and Siobh\u00e1n Lynch have gone through is \u201cabsolutely harrowing\u201d and that the Garda is \u201ctrying to do everything we can\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said his own view on e-scooters specifically is \u201cwe would be better off as a society without them\u201d and in relation to public safety \u201cI certainly agree with some of the others calling for a ban on them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Doctors at Temple Street Children\u2019s Hospital in Dublin this month called for a ban due to children ending up on life support as a result of e-scooter injuries. <\/p>\n

Kelly said other jurisdictions have brought in outright bans, while others require registration or e-scooters and the use of helmets. <\/p>\n

He said that in Ireland e-scooters are being used for drug dealing and intimidation; road-traffic laws are \u201cbeing absolutely flouted\u201d; and that people have been hurt, including children suffering \u201csevere injuries\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kelly said e-scooters are currently allowed and acknowledged they are being used for transport to work and how people had businesses selling and repairing them, but added \u201cthere\u2019s so much harm being done [by e-scooters].\u201d<\/p>\n

Later he told TDs and Senators: \u201cIf there was a ban on them we would certainly be very supportive of that and it would solve a lot of the problems that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the D\u00e1il, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald highlighted a recent incident involving a scrambler at the Five Lamps in Dublin city in which Jayden Deans (14) was hit as he crossed the road and was \u201cleft with a broken, mangled leg and incredible trauma\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018I didn\u2019t know what I was running over to\u2019 \u2013 Mother of boy hit by scrambler says locals are afraidOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

McDonald accused the Taoiseach of failing to act on his promise to enforce measures brought in after the death of Grace Lynch, whose parents observed proceedings from the public gallery.<\/p>\n

Months on from the enactment of Grace\u2019s Law \u201cwe actually see the plague of all of this getting worse, not better\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

McDonald said lives have been lost in Carlow and Galway, and children are on life support machines in Temple street hospital.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said garda\u00ed were actively pursuing illegal use and \u201cabout 2,000 e-scooters have been seized since 2024, and about 418 scramblers\u201d in the same period.<\/p>\n

But Social Democrats TD Daniel Ennis said a gang on scramblers took over Dublin city centre on Saturday night \u201cfor hours\u201d, moving from street to street, and one nearly crashed into him. He said when he went to Store Street Garda station a garda told him they \u201chadn\u2019t got the resources \u2013 on a Saturday night\u201d in the \u201ccapital of our country\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a good enough response from a member of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Additional garda\u00ed have been recruited and resources are being allocated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged cases had been taken against garda\u00ed over pursuing criminals, but said the Ministers for Justice and Transport were working on legislation to protect garda\u00ed while in pursuit of a person.<\/p>\n

Later at the Justice committee, Ennis raised Saturday\u2019s incident involving scramblers in Dublin city centre with the commissioner.<\/p>\n

Kelly said the Garda response that evening was \u201cnot a resourcing issue per se\u201d while adding: \u201cwithout a doubt there should have been a response to that\u201d.<\/p>\n

During his answer Kelly said he was \u201cnot making an excuse\u201d but highlighted a GAA semi-final taking place in Croke Park, indicating that would have drawn on Garda resources in the area. He added: \u201cWe certainly have no intention of ceding our city centre\u201d to gangs with motorcycles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said he agrees with calls for a ban on e-scooters, saying society would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,16665,15049,615,137170,4500,61,60,3658,1843,43,104799],"class_list":["post-549832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-carlow","tag-dail-eireann","tag-dublin","tag-escooters","tag-galway","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-sean-canney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549832","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=549832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}