LAST UPDATE | 33 mins ago

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has pledged to remove scramblers from public roads following the death of Grace Lynch in Dublin over the weekend.

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, the Taoiseach said the Government will tighten existing regulations around the use of scrambler bikes.

There has been public outrage over the death of 16-year-old Grace Lynch, who was hit by a scrambler bike in Finglas, Dublin, on Sunday.

The Taoiseach has been among those to pay tributes to the teenager after her death, offering his sympathies to her family.

“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,” he wrote on social media.

Grace’s mother Siobhan led the calls for stricter regulation of scrambler bikes when members of the local community gathered in Finglas yesterday evening.

“I will fight to get these scramblers and scooters and everything off these streets,” she said, adding that watching her daughter “take her last breath was the worst pain imaginable”.

“It’s not something that any parent should have to deal with,” she said as she pledged to launch a campaign.

Earlier today, Minister of State with Responsibility for Road Safety, Seán Canney, told RTÉ Radio that his department is working to fully implement legislation relating to scramblers that was introduced in 2023.

Asked why part of the legislation passed in 2023 has yet to be implemented in the form of regulation, the minister said he wants to see it implemented at the earliest date possible. 

The specific part of the legislation relates to the restriction of the use of scramblers in certain areas. 

Canney said scramblers should not be permitted in public places.

Both he and the Taoiseach noted that there is already legislation in place to deal with the dangerous driving of scramblers. 

Under the 2023 legislation, dangerous driving is an offence anywhere, not just in a public place.

Garadaí also have the power to seize offending vehicles.

Canney also noted that gardaí and the Department of Justice are currently working on a code of practice for the use of drones to track scramblers.

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.

He also said that the number of “these dangerous vehicles” seized by gardaí in the last year has gone up.

“In 2025, they seized 113 scramblers and 22 quad bikes,” he said, adding that “enforcement is happening, maybe not as much as we would like”. 

With reporting from Jane Matthews