{"id":559656,"date":"2026-07-20T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559656\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:36:08","slug":"e-scooter-ban-means-nothing-if-not-enforced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559656\/","title":{"rendered":"E-scooter ban ‘means nothing if not enforced’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that the Government’s new ban on e-scooters for those under 18 will not be effective unless garda\u00ed are given more resources to enforce them.<\/p>\n

E-scooters will be banned for anyone aged under 18, under proposals agreed by the Government. It was also agreed that hi-vis jackets and helmets will also be mandatory for all e-scooter use.<\/a><\/p>\n

This will take effect in August.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside Leinster House she said: “What’s required is enforcement, the Government haven’t said anything or certainly haven’t made the commitments that we need in respect of garda resources and garda training.<\/p>\n

“A ban is all well and good but it means nothing if it’s not enforced, and all of the evidence across our communities is that the law and regulations are not enforced.<\/p>\n

“So what’s needed to get on top of this is proper resourced, equipment, and training for the garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

“Without that we are going to continue with the nightmare that we are seeing on our streets, and just to remind ourselves people have been badly injured and worse.”<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed ‘often hamstrung’ with current regulation – Labour<\/p>\n

Labour transport spokesman Ciar\u00e1n Ahern broadly welcomed the action but said it will rely on “enforcement”, adding that garda\u00ed are “often hamstrung under current regulations”.<\/p>\n

Mr Ahern said there would also need to be “much stronger enforcement” on advertising and illegal alterations.<\/p>\n

The Green Party “cautiously” welcomed the development as it sought a “specific restriction of the sale of e-scooters designed for and marketed to children” in any legislation.<\/p>\n

Green leader Roderic O’Gorman said: “The statement issued by Government mentions that the sale of e-scooters to minors is to be prohibited, but it also needs to be illegal to buy one for a child.<\/p>\n

Read more: ‘I’m 100% in favour of it’ – under-18s e-scooter ban<\/a><\/p>\n

“However, the timeline for the introduction of these rules means that the health of thousands of children will be put at risk.”<\/p>\n

The party welcomed that there was no outright ban, but warned the licencing and registration cannot be used as a “back door” towards a complete restriction.<\/p>\n

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy called for stronger enforcement of the ban on under 16s using e-scooters, along with stronger controls on circumventing maximum speeds.<\/p>\n

“It is estimated that one in every 25 adults travels by e-scooter at least once a month.<\/p>\n

“It is an affordable and environmentally sustainable mode of transport that we should not rush to ban,” Mr Murphy said.<\/p>\n

He added: “Seventeen-year-olds are legally able to drive a car, and yet the Government is now saying that they will not be able to ride an e-scooter.<\/p>\n

“It is already illegal for under 16s to use e-scooters, but despite this, marketing and sales of e-scooters to under 16s is common.<\/p>\n

“They are not appropriate or safe for children and the government should move swiftly to outlaw marketing and sales of e-scooters to under 16s.”<\/p>\n

Users on e-scooters illegally will ‘simply go on breaking the law’<\/p>\n

The Dublin Commuter Coalition said the new proposals mandating Helmets and Hi-Vis jackets be used
when riding an e-scooter “will have no effect curtailing users already riding them illegally, who
will simply go on breaking the law”.<\/p>\n

The coalition described the ban for those under 18 as “paramount to a ban on e-scooters for all users” due to the requirement for registration and licensing.<\/p>\n

It also said: “Government quite clearly weren’t considering the practical implementation or the environmental impact of their decision which will lead to an immediate increase in congestion as e-scooter users are forced back into their cars.<\/p>\n

“Under new rules, a 16-year-old will still be able to use mopeds and tractors for farming purposes, often driven on country lanes.<\/p>\n

“17 year olds will be able to get a category B car license and drive in general traffic, but neither would be legally allowed to use a registered e-scooter that travels less than 20kph, while wearing a helmet and hi-vis jacket in a segregated cycle lane.”<\/p>\n

The coalition added that today’s decision is a “massive step backwards for commuters”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that the Government’s new ban on e-scooters for those under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-559656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559656","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=559656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}