COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

MOTION NO. 4

MOTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

That this Council calls on the Chief Executive to confirm actions he is taking to deal with the ongoing menace of Scramblers/Quads which remains a serious issue in many communities throughout our County; will he also confirm contacts he has had with Government in respect for the need of effective legislation in the matter and will he make a statement.

REPORT:

In 2017 South Dublin County Council convened a taskforce consisting of SDCC, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Dept of Justice, An Garda Siochana, the Road Safety Authority and Motocross Ireland to examine the issue of scramblers being driven in public parks and open spaces. Some of the issues which arose at meetings of the task force in 2017 and 2018 were that the Gardai do not currently have the power to pursue scrambler bikes, to stop them, to impound them, to pursue them to other locations and to question the owners and drivers about their movements. It was felt that these issues needed to be addressed by new legislation. Equally the Council has been unable to date to identify the drivers of these vehicles and to hold them responsible for damage caused to parks and open spaces. While the Council’s taskforce is still active a period of time has elapsed in 2019 where no meetings have taken place, this was while confirmation was awaited from the government departments with regard to the legal position and the views of the Attorney General’s Office on the adequacy of existing legislation.

In parallel to the Council’s taskforce the government put in place a cross departmental group to examine the issues at hand and in particular to examine the legal position with regard to existing legislation, with the assistance of the Attorney General’s Office. The legal advice provided by the Office of the Attorney General indicated that, in the main, current road traffic and public order legislation appears to provide sufficient means to police this issue. This view is shared by both the Department of Justice and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Department of Justice reconvened the cross-agency group in March to discuss this legal advice with members of An Garda Síochána (AGS); meeting with the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau (GNRPB), the Dublin Metropolitan Region (Tallaght District) and the Youth Diversion, Community Engagement &Public Safety Bureau and the general consensus was that new legislative powers are not required. In the absence of a need for new legislation, it is envisaged that an effective response to this anti-social behaviour will be informed by a combination of targeted enforcement measures, awareness raising, and youth engagement programmes. These measures will be progressed in conjunction with the relevant Departments and agencies. We have been assured by the Dept of Justice that both ministers and the Garda Commissioner remain committed to finding a workable solution to this problem and in this regard we have been informed that there have been some recent seizures/prosecutions under the Road Traffic Acts and that one of these was in a public park.

We remain in close contact with the Department of Justice and have provided them with some background information and background data to assist them in formulating a response.

Separate to the above a Private Members Bill on the matter was brought before the Dáil earlier this year. It is understood that this Bill has passed the second stage and that it is due to be debated further in due course.

In addition to the work of the taskforce as outlined above the Council is arranging for boundary improvement works to be carried out at locations where scramblers, quad bikes and stolen cars are gaining access to public parks. Substantial boundary improvement works have taken place at both Bancroft Park and Butler McGee Park. A tender process for works at Killinarden Park has just concluded and following appointment of the successful contractor works should start at this location shortly. Boundary improvement works are either at construction or planning stages for Jobstown Park, Quarryvale Park, St Cuthbert’s Park, Tymon Park, Dodder Valley Park as well as completion of fencing at Butler McGee Park at a total cost in excess of €500,000.