TAX AND INSURANCE will become a requirement for using an e-scooter, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said. 

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1′s David McCullough show, Harris, who is also Minister for Finance, said the proposals will be brought to Cabinet next week.

While it will be the responsibility of Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien to bring forward the reforms, Harris said it is his “firm view” that insurance should be required alongside a “registration fee or a tax”.

His comments come after the government yesterday announced a significant overhaul of how e-scooters are regulated in Ireland.

Currently, e-scooters are banned for under-16s, but from next month, this will be extended to everyone under the age of 18.

At the same time, it will become mandatory to wear a helmet and high-vis vest while on an e-scooter. 

“The current system is being completely ripped up and rebuilt here,” the Tánaiste said today. 

“There was a view that this was a sustainability issue, it’s a climate issue. And look, there are some people, we all know them, who bought them and use them appropriately and do their best to zip in and out of work in an appropriate way. But this is now a major health issue in Ireland, a major road safety issue in Ireland, and that’s why we’re acting decisively,” he said. 

The Tánaiste also called on shops to stop selling e-scooters to children ahead of laws being brought in to prohibit their sale to under-18s later this year. 

In recent weeks, Children’s Health Ireland and the HSE have highlighted a pattern of serious and life-changing injuries caused by e-scooters.

More than one third of all paediatric traumatic brain injury admissions to CHI at Temple Street in 2026 were related to e-scooters.

Admissions for traumatic brain injuries from e-scooter accidents increased by 50% in the last 12 months.