THE DUBLIN COMMUTER Coalition has said that calls for a complete ban on e-scooters are “farcical”.

The coalition is an advocacy group that aims to improve the provision of sustainable mobility in the Greater Dublin Area and added that calls for a ban are a “kneejerk reaction”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly were among those voicing support for such a ban this week.

Tánaiste Simon Harris meanwhile said he would keep an “open mind” on a complete ban but questioned the legality of such a move.

While he said e-scooters are a “legitimate form of transport”, Harris added that he is “absolutely certain that the current situation can’t continue”.

The debate around e-scooters has intensified after a new report by Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) revealed there has been a 50% annual increase in the number of children and young people being admitted to hospital with traumatic brain injuries because of e-scooter crashes.

The CHI research also revealed that one to two e-scooter related injuries are presenting to ED every day.

The Dublin Commuter Coalition today described calls for a complete ban on e-scooters as “an unworkable, kneejerk reaction from a government” that has “failed to enforce its own regulations” and “failed to understand the underlying cause of the issue”.

The coalition said that there has been “tireless efforts by transport campaigners over the past decade” to achieve recent regulations to legalise e-scooters with small batteries and “reasonable” road speeds.

As of May 2024, e-scooter users must be 16 or older and obey a speed limit of 20km/h.

However, the coalition said these laws have been “continuously undermined by domestic retailers who overwhelmingly stock vehicles that exceed the limitations”.

It added that the minimum recommended age for use by some retailers “can be as low as six”.

The coalition meanwhile pointed to what it described as the “chronic under-resourcing” of An Garda Síochána’s Road Policing Unit and added: “The Government has created the perfect situation for misuse of e-scooters by children, and the criminal use of them by organised gangs”.

While the coalition acknowledged that there is “certainly a degree of unacceptable rule breaking” by some e-scooter users, it said that “the levels are no greater than other types of motorist whose vehicles pose a far greater risk”.

“The adults using e-scooters each day use them to travel to work, to shop in their local communities and escort their children riding bicycles to school,” said the coalition.

“Not only would a blanket ban punish lawful e-scooter owners but it would also punish commuters in general.”

The coalition said that a ban on e-scooters would “push thousands back into cars”.

It noted that the transport sector is the second-worst contributor of carbon emissions in Ireland, after agriculture, and said that “rolling back on measures that empower people to choose a form of sustainable personal travel certainly won’t help us reach our legally binding climate reduction targets”.

The coalition has called for the government to allocate the “required resources” to An Garda Síochána’s Road Policing Unit to enforce the existing rules, and to stop “non-compliant scooters from entering the market or be advertised for use by children”.

Jason Cullen, the chair of the coalition, remarked that children under 16 “routinely” ride e-scooters despite recent regulations banning this.

“There is a pattern here,” said Cullen, “the Government’s rules say one thing and their lack of enforcement says another.

“The idea that an outright ban would do anything to discourage the already illegal behaviour is farcical.”

Meanwhile, Cullen said that a ban would be “purely performative”.

“They will not allocate the required resources to allow the enforcement of their rules,” said Cullen.

“Without additional resources for enforcement, children will continue to be injured and the Government will simply wash their hands of it.”

Elsewhere, Labour TD Marie Sherlock has called for a six-week ban on e-scooters in order to get the “right regulatory systems in place”.

She said it was a “cop out” for Martin and Kelly to favour an outright ban and remarked that a temporary six-week ban would give government and the gardaí “time to catch up on the gaps in legislation and enforcement so that we have a functioning safe system in place come the Autumn”.

While Cullan said he “respects” the Labour proposal, he doesn’t think it has “any merits”.

“We don’t think it would have any particular effect, especially given that the Dáil is in recess and they’re not going to be working on any particular responses,” said Cullan.

He added: “The law just needs to be enforced, and that’s a garda resourcing issue, and to a degree, a regulatory issue when it comes to the sale of scooters that are not legally allowed to be used on Irish roads.”