Scramblers will be removed from public roads, Taoiseach pledges

Scramblers will be removed from public roads, the Taoiseach has pledged following the death of a teenage girl in a crash involving one of the vehicles on Sunday.

Micheal Martin said he wanted to extend his “deepest sympathies” to the family of teenager Grace Lynch following her “shocking” death in the Finglas area of Dublin.

He said: “No words will console the family on the devastating loss of their beautiful daughter.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he added: “I will be engaging with ministers to make sure that anything and everything that has to be done will be done to remove these scramblers from our public roads.”

Earlier, the minister with responsibility for road transport said scramblers should not be permitted in any public place or road.

Asked when law prohibiting or restricting scramblers in particular areas would come into effect, Sean Canney said he has sought an “early date” from Department of Justice officials for when that regulation will be in place.

“The legislation there already, which came in in 2023, says dangerous driving becomes an offence on any ground, not just in a public place – it is any place.

“Also that gardai have the power to seize the offending machines.”

Asked where they should be banned, Mr Canney told RTE radio: “Scramblers should not be permissioned in any public space in this country, I fail to see why we need to have them in public spaces.”

He said this “absolutely” included roads.

Pressed on whether this belief would be in the regulations drawn up by Government officials, he said he would be looking at the matter “very closely” with his officials.

Mr Canney said gardai and the Department of Justice are working on a code of practice for the use of drones to track scramblers to make sure it is “foolproof” against legal objections.

The independent TD added that he had instructed local authorities to introduce bylaws to reduce speed limits in urban areas from 50kmh to 30kmh by the end of the year.