2026-01-27

I welcome all of those in the Gallery, which is full. We will proceed to Leaders' Question under Standing Order 38. I call Deputy Mary Lou McDonald.

For Grace Lynch, last Sunday began like any other. Spending time with her family, having breakfast, talking about her plans for the day, texting friends and having the craic with her sisters and baby brother. Later, on Sunday afternoon, Grace went to meet her boyfriend. She never came home. As she crossed the Ratoath Road a short distance from her home, Grace was mowed down by a scrambler bike. Hit at full speed and with full force, her body was thrown across the road. She was rushed to Connolly Hospital where doctors desperately treated her catastrophic injuries, but it was not enough. Grace Lynch died that evening. She was 16. A young woman with her whole life ahead of her. The apple of her father's eye and her mother's pride and joy, she was killed on the road in her community as she went about her everyday 16-year-old life. What happened is every parent's, every family's and every young person's worst nightmare. Now, instead of preparing her for school, her heartbroken parents prepare to bury their lovely daughter. Grace Lynch was failed catastrophically. Scrambler bikes have been the scourge of working-class communities in Dublin and beyond for years. Neighbourhoods being terrorised by antisocial behaviour involving these bikes is nothing new, with gangs driving scramblers dangerously, harassing and intimidating people and delivering drugs. There have been countless accidents and there is a constant sense of menace, but the Government failed to listen to communities and take them seriously. It was, in reality, only a matter of time before somebody was killed. Now that somebody has a name. Her name is Grace Lynch. For more than a decade, we pushed the Government to crack down and introduce stronger laws to get these scramblers off our streets. When the Government would not act, we did. In 2021, we brought forward legislation to take this on, but the Government amended and blocked it and dragged its heels. In 2023, it brought forward legislation but it did not go far enough. As we meet here today, this legislation has not been enacted fully. Only today, when a child is dead, the Government is talking about moving quickly, tightening things up and taking action. The absence of any Government urgency in tackling the menace of scramblers is frightening. This has to change fast. Éilíonn bás Grace Lynch gníomh ón Rialtas chun dul i ngleic leis na rothair streachailte. Tá ár bpobail cráite acu. Grace's mother, Siobhán, spoke at a vigil in Finglas last night. She said watching Grace take her last breath was the worst pain imaginable. She vowed to fight to get these scramblers off our streets, but this is not a fight she should have to take on. It is the Government’s job to act now to ensure that another life is not lost. The Taoiseach owes it to Grace’s heartbroken parents to set out what the Government will do now to get scramblers off our roads and streets and out of our communities, where they have wreaked havoc for years. I spoke with Grace’s mam, Siobhán, last night. She told me that Grace was a happy girl and a kind girl. She loved her family. She loved her friends. She loved the colour red. She loved life, and she should still be here. Her death cannot be in vain, because Grace Lynch matters. What happened to her matters. What happens next really matters. The Government must act.

Hear, hear.

Before the Taoiseach responds, I ask everybody to please be responsible in their commentary. There will be a criminal investigation and prosecution.

I want to express my deepest sympathies to the family of Grace Lynch who was mowed down by a scrambler and who died as a result. No words can console the family. Nothing that I can say can in any way ease the devastation, the pain, the hurt and the anger that Grace’s family feels right now. I understand that anger, and I understand the devastation that they are going through. They have lost a beautiful daughter who should be going to school and who should be with her friends today. There is an investigation under way. We did act at the time in respect of legislation. I recall that Deputies across the House – including, on our side, Deputy Paul McAuliffe, in particular, and Deputy John Lahart – pressed for legislation to deal with the scourge of scramblers in our communities. As a result of that and of work involving the then Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, the Minister, Deputy Browne, and Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, legislative changes were brought through the House to tackle the scourge of dangerous driving and the antisocial use of scramblers and quad bikes. Those changes were introduced by means of the Road Traffic Act 2023, which dealt with dangerous driving becoming an offence everywhere not just in public places. It is difficult to comprehend that was not the state of play before that. An Garda Síochána has been granted new powers of seizure. There is also a power in that legislation to provide for the prohibition or the restriction of use of classes of vehicles in particular places. As a result of that legislation, in 2024 and 2025 about 300 scramblers and quad bikes were seized by the Garda. That is not enough. There is a third aspect to this. I am convening an immediate meeting of the Departments of Transport and justice. I had to convene a meeting in 2020 or 2021 to start the ball rolling and get the legislation to which I refer done. There was a degree of resistance at the time and claims to the effect that it could not be done and so on. It was done. However, the final regulations need to be dealt with. They should already have been. I am very clear about it. In my view, it will happen. It should have happened in terms of the formulation and dealing with of those regulations. I understand fully the anger of people in working-class areas, particularly Finglas. There is no need for and there should be no scramblers on public roads. We have it within our power to make that happen, and it will happen. That said, nothing can ever ease the devastation the Lynch family have experienced as a resulted of the loss of Grace from that collision the other night. The Deputy can rest assured we are. I have spoken to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, this morning. That work needs to be completed. Progress was made on a number of fronts but that needs to be completed. Is uafás den scoth é seo. Tá sé uafásach ar fad. Is olc an scéal an méid atá tar éis tarlú i mbás Grace Lynch. Déanaimid comhbhrón lena clann ach ní leor é sin. Caithfimid an reachtaíocht a chur i bhfeidhm ina iomláine.

Of course, there are no words of consolation that can in any way reflect the loss of Siobhán and Martin, Grace's wider family, her community and her friends too. Of course, that is the case. Her life was lost needlessly and, as I said, it was predictable. It was predictable that a life would be lost and yet the law dragged its feet. I hope the Taoiseach hears that anger from Finglas. The people in that community have their arms around Grace's family and they will mind them but, no more than the communities in Ballymun, Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Tallaght or parts of Limerick, they will not tolerate any more that people are allowed to run a monk in working-class communities, putting people's very lives in danger. With a 16-year-old life taken, no words of consolation can ever meet the pain of Grace's family but Siobhán, her mother, told me that action would be some consolation. We need swift action not words. Take these bikes off our streets and make our kids and our communities safe at last.

First of all, I do hear the anger from the community and we are going to act. Also, I know that the Minister for justice has spoken with the Garda Commissioner. He is attending to this immediately and treating this with the upmost priority in terms of the enforcement side of it. On the legislation in terms of seizures and so on, the Garda did act in a number of areas and despite what one hears, it was in a position to seize many of these. In terms of pursuing scramblers, there is a pursuit policy. I believe the Commissioner is going to review that with a view to taking a more intensive approach in relation to it. The more fundamental point is that the remaining part of this legislation has to be enacted and commenced to take these scramblers off our roads as is provided for, despite what gets said, in the primary legislation this House passed on 2023.

I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Grace Lynch, the 16-year-old girl who tragically died, killed in that horrific scrambler collision on Sunday. We have all seen the heartbreaking footage of Grace's mother Siobhán addressing a vigil last night as she described the unimaginable pain of watching her young daughter take her last breath. I pay tribute to Siobhán Lynch for showing such courage in the face of such outright grief and for calling for changes to the law so that no other family has to endure that trauma. As a parent, I can only imagine the horror of their ordeal on losing their beautiful daughter in this way. It is not just Finglas; the entire country is shaken by Grace's death. I know we are all conscious the criminal justice process must be allowed to take its course but the misuse of scramblers, quad bikes and e-scooters is a nationwide problem, a scourge across so many communities. We have seen a failure of enforcement, a failure of regulation, a failure of political will and a lack of urgency from Government in tackling this. I welcome the Taoiseach's robust comments that our roads must be safe and that everything must be done to remove scramblers from our roads but we need action. This is not a new issue. The catastrophic injuries caused to Ilabek Avetian by a scrambler bike in a Dublin park back in 2018 should have been the wake-up call. It is not just scramblers; we know that e-scooter-related brain injuries now account for over a quarter of paediatric neurosurgical admissions in Temple Street hospital. Families are burying their children. We need to band together on this in this House. Let us resolve to expedite the solution. The Taoiseach will have Labour’s full support in facilitating any necessary law or policy change to address this scourge but we have to see urgent action from him. Scramblers are not toys; they are powerful machines. They are being used to intimidate on our streets. They are lethal weapons. They are often unregistered and used illegally by inexperienced riders in public spaces, parks, estates and streets. They are sitting in storage right now around the country, being sold and loaned out by individuals who know they will be misused. Some are adapted to break speed limits, endangering not just the riders, but everyone around them. We need enforcement that is visible, consistent and effective. We welcome new Garda powers but we need to see more. Four years on, the specialist Garda drone unit set up to tackle scramblers is still not being used due to delays in establishing a clear legal framework. The Minister for justice has said work is ongoing on a code of practice for using the drones but we need far greater urgency. The Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, speaking on the radio this morning, gave little reassurance and no sense of urgency. How will the Government move beyond sympathy and robust words? What action will it take to remove scramblers from our streets and public spaces? Will it consider an immediate freeze on the use of all scrambler bikes until the necessary enforcement mechanisms - robust enforcement mechanisms - are put in place urgently?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I fully agree with what she said on the courage of Siobhán Lynch in respect of the loss of her daughter Grace and pursuing with great clarity the need for absolute change. The legislation has been passed by this House. I convened a meeting a number of years ago to set that in train and the legislation was passed. Additional powers have been given to the Garda and additional laws have been passed as a result of that. In particular, dangerous driving has become an offence everywhere, not just in public places. An Garda Síochána has been granted new powers of seizure and has used those powers. Close to 300 scramblers and quads have been seized as a result of that. The third element is that the Department of Transport has been working with the Garda to finalise a straightforward ban in areas where they are being used. I am convening an immediate meeting between the relevant Departments to get this done. My view, and the advice from the Attorney General is very clear, is that it does not need additional laws to do this. It will be done. I have made that very clear to all Ministers and officials. There are significant powers in place to intervene, confiscate and prohibit such vehicles on our public roads. Related to that, we have to move with speed on e-scooters. The level of injuries being reported from consultants in emergency medicine, particularly brain injuries as well as physical injuries, is far too high. People might have welcomed them some years ago, thinking they were a new mode of transport, but they are now a very significant danger to the public and to those using them. They have to be regulated. We have to take a really hard look at this because of the level of injuries to young people, in particular, who use such vehicles. The scrambler issue, for me, is very straightforward. Scramblers have no place on our roads. There is a lot of other activity related to them, as someone referenced during the day, in terms of illegal activity, perhaps, in some cases and the utilisation of scramblers in particular.

I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment to taking urgent action to remove scramblers from our roads and to address illegal usage of e-scooters and quads, but we need action. I am grateful to my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock and Ahern, who point out practical things that could be done now. We were promised 150 additional road traffic gardaí. Let us see those gardaí in place because this is about enforcement. Let us the see the sort of actions that have been taken elsewhere. In Manchester, drone units have been deployed to track illegal use of scramblers. In the Netherlands, authorities are seizing imported vehicles that do not meet regulations. I have spoken about, and we all know about, e-scooters that are modified so that they break speed limits that have been set in law. This is about enforcement. I say again let us have an immediate freeze on the use of scramblers in any public spaces while we ensure there is a robust enforcement mechanism in place. Clearly, it is not in place now and we are all seeing it. I have given that one example of the code of practice on drone usage. There is one very practical thing that can and should be done urgently. What about mass confiscations of vehicles that do not meet regulations?

I ask the Taoiseach to respond.

The Garda does not need additional powers. Let us get additional gardaí to do this. This must be a watershed moment.

I agree with the Deputy and I appreciate her offer of engagement and co-operation. The code of practice will be finalised and I know the Minister has spoken to the Garda Commissioner in relation to this. The newly appointed Garda Commissioner is very clear on the prioritisation we attach to this issue. That code of practice in respect of drones and their utilisation in detection and so on will be done now. Also, the commencement of the regulations on that last aspect of the 2023 Act, most of which has been commenced, will also happen.

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our deepest sympathies to Grace Lynch's family. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, boyfriend and extended community today. This Government was elected on promises that it was addressing the housing disaster. Many people struggling to buy and rent a home believed it. They took the Taoiseach at his word, they trusted him and many of them voted for him. Those people have been looking on as promise after promise that was made to them have turned to dust. The legislation the Cabinet signed off on today is the latest betrayal of these people. Between tenancies, landlords will be allowed to hike up rents to match the market rate. Just to be clear, the market rate is effectively a rate that is set by landlords. Every expert before the housing committee said this would result in higher rents. Ireland already has some of the highest rents in Europe. Incredibly, today's decision will drive them even higher. Why is the focus of this Government constantly on the protection of landlords' profits? When we consider the context, we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents have already doubled over the last ten years and there are 16,000 homeless people, of whom nearly 5,000 are children. It says a lot that this Government's legislation today is not directly focused on urgently helping them. I have to wonder if the Government is even aware of how high rents are at the moment and what new tenants could be forced to pay under market rent. Today, a two-bedroom apartment in Dublin is going for €3,400 per month. In Cork, it is €2,250, in Galway, it is €3,000, and in Limerick, it is €2,800. All of these prices are from daft.ie today and they are only going in one direction - up. Does the Taoiseach believe these rents are acceptable and affordable? Does he think they should go up? The Government can dress this up whatever way it wants and can try its level best to spin this Bill as protection for renters, but no one is going to buy it. This Government has not just failed to deliver on housing; it has repeatedly misled people about that failure. The reality is, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have spent a decade turning a housing crisis into more and more of a disaster. Now, instead of admitting this and changing its approach, it is doubling down, making renters pay the price of Government failure again by using them as sacrificial lambs and bleeding them dry in the hope of boosting supply. It is not too late to change course. The Government could increase protections for renters instead of stripping them away. It could introduce a three-year rent freeze and use that time to boost supply of affordable homes using a State construction company and modular home factories. How can the Taoiseach stand over a plan that will drive record-high rents even higher?

First, I reject the spin the Deputy has put on the legislation the Cabinet approved today in respect of rent. Fundamentally, to summarise, what we are now looking at is national rent regulation and national rent control across the entire country. That is an outcome of this Bill. There will be strengthened protection for renters through the introduction of tenancies of minimum duration. That has not happened before. There is an effective end to no-fault evictions. It includes the establishment of a rent price register, which brings much needed transparency, and arrangements to reset rent to market rate only every six years. That is part of a wider set of measures the Government announced over the past 12 months, which have laid the foundations for significant movement and progress on the housing front. The Deputy forgot to say that the tenancies of the over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not be impacted in any way by this legislation. Deputy Cairns just ignored that and spun it differently. She deliberately misled people by saying what she said, in terms of the spinning of it and so on. The measures are only for new tenancies that start from 1 March. That is very clear. In our view - Deputy Cairns may differ - this is the most significant improvement in rental protection in the history of the State. From now on, when tenants sign a lease, they can have far more confidence in terms of where they are living. They will be there for a minimum of six years. The restrictions are much more significant now than they would have been on landlords in terms of eviction. I make the wider point that the Housing Commission recommended that we reform the rent pressure zones, RPZs. That was a very clear recommendation from the Housing Commission. Yes, we are balancing but there is very strong protective regulation here. We must also increase supply. I argue that what Deputy Cairns and her party have proposed for the past two or three years would dampen supply and disincentivise investment and would not have any significant impact in terms of reducing rent. That is inescapable in terms of the Deputy's idea of a rent freeze. It is all very popular but it would undermine the rental market very significantly and to such an extent that you would have a depression in supply. We want more supply and we need more supply, obviously. Already, the indications are quite positive in respect of both the budgetary measures on VAT and these particular reforms. It is also interesting in terms of a fairer system. Dr. Michael Byrne from the school of social policy, social work and social justice in University College Dublin has made the point that what is being missed in the current discussion is that the new legislation is designed, once established, to reduce the level of notices of termination.

The Taoiseach saying that this is the most significant improvement for renters shows how low the bar is for renters in terms of improvements. Listening to him, it is easy to understand why people feel such despair about housing. The Government is out of ideas. We need a radical reset on housing and this Government just will not deliver that because that would mean admitting failure, and the Taoiseach does not seem capable of that. Rents are at record levels and this legislation will drive them even higher. The Taoiseach can criticise the Social Democrats all he likes with his usual, baseless attacks, but the housing disaster is getting worse on his watch. It does not have to be like this. He could take radical action and prioritise renters and those who want to own their own home. He chooses not to. The Taoiseach did not answer the question, so I will ask it again. How can he stand over a plan that will drive rents even higher?

I did but I noticed the Deputy's supplementary question was pre-scripted. I have no issue discussing with the Deputy. Let us put the scripts away and let us debate it. Let us talk. I do not use scripts all the time. I am just saying that I made a few points-----

What is the point in that? Answer the question.

No, the point is this. It is clear the Deputy was not listening to what I was saying. She just has empty soundbites that she just pronounces. They are good. They sound well but there is a desperate lack of substance in what the Deputy is saying about housing. I equally argue the Social Democrats have not come up with solutions.

There is record homelessness.

Earlier, the Deputy spoke about a construction company. How long does she think that will take to set up?

How long has the Taoiseach been in Government?

That is why those kind of policies do not resonate with people because they do not see solutions there either. I acknowledge housing is a huge issue. It is an enormous issue. It is the number one issue facing our society. We are throwing the kitchen sink at it in terms of public sector investment. We are trying to get additional private sector investment in because we must. Deputy Cairns does not want to tolerate private sector investment and she is against it.

That is not true.

We need €20 billion a year to get to 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year. Let us put aside the soundbites and ask ourselves a question. How do we get to 50,000 or 60,000 houses per year because that is what is required?

Get you out of Government.

What is the policy on rents?

Less developer-led policies; that is what-----

I thank the Taoiseach. The time is up. I call Deputy Gogarty.

Everywhere is going up.

Deputy Gogarty, please.

We have seen too many tragic cases across the country where a parent or family member has taken the lives of their loved ones, including one in my constituency weeks ago. My thoughts are first and foremost with every family who has suffered such unimaginable loss and also, of course, the family of the late Grace Lynch. How the State handles these cases is a matter of public interest. There is one case in particular, again in my constituency, that demands answers. This week five years ago, three innocent children - Conor, aged 9, Darragh, aged 7, and Carla, just three years old - were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley. She was later found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, a verdict that has left more questions than answers. Their father, Andrew McGinley, who is in the Gallery today, has fought tirelessly to have the full circumstances leading up to their deaths properly investigated. He sought detailed fact-finding processes at their inquest, including the examination of the treatment Ms Morley received in the two years before the children died. However, the coroner has limited the scope of the inquest. This followed correspondence with the HSE and from consultants in St. Patrick's Mental Health Services requesting such a limitation. I fully respect the independence of the Coroner’s Court but when the HSE asks for a limited scope, that request carries weight, and if the effect is to restrict the facts that can be examined, then the public is entitled to ask why. Barristers for the HSE argued that a full investigation would examine not only the treatment provided but also a "consideration and determination as to its adequacy". Yes, the Coroners Act does prevent a finding of civil or criminal liability but the legislation does not prevent the coroner from establishing plain facts, including whether protocols were followed, whether procedures failed or whether systemic gaps existed. Those factual findings are essential if we are serious about preventing more such tragedies. Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the State has a duty to conduct an effective investigation where systemic failures may have contributed to a death. That requires looking beyond the immediate medical causes to the wider circumstances. Our Supreme Court has also been clear that coroners have a public duty to allay rumours or suspicion and to highlight circumstances which, if unaddressed, could lead to further deaths. I am, therefore, asking for a clear commitment today in the case from McGinley children. Further information must be brought into the public domain that may require widening the remit of coroners or require the Attorney General to reconfirm that such scope in the public interest already exists. It certainly requires an examination as to why the HSE sought to limit this inquest and whether that constitutes undue interference contrary to the public interest. Families who lose loved ones in these horrific circumstances must be able to trust that every single relevant fact will be examined because transparency and accountability are about learning lessons and maybe, just maybe, that will save lives in the future.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very grave issue, particularly in the context of the deaths of Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley. The Minister for justice met with Andrew in late November. We will reflect on what he has articulated very passionately. We are also conscious that this is a very challenging area in respect of the rights of all concerned but also the issues of mental health. I will seek an answer as to why the HSE took the position it did. The coroner has clear powers under the Act in terms of organising the conduct of the inquest and so forth. I acknowledge that there are issues here in respect of how we, as a society, deal with familicide and how we deal with these issues. In more recent times, we are witnessing parents coming forward or the family coming forward with very serious issues and who feel their concerns and issues are not being listened to by those in authority. On the other hand, there are also very clear issues of an ethical kind that are not immediately reconcilable with the need for 100% transparency. It is not simple; it is very challenging, but we have an obligation to listen and then to act in the best way we can to try to meet the concerns of those who have lost their children in horrific and very traumatic circumstances. I am open, and I know the Ministers will be too, to engaging with Mr. McGinley and others in terms of how we can move this forward.

I thank the Taoiseach. Mr. McGinley's stated reason for seeking an unrestricted inquest scope is simple and is grounded in the wider public interest to save lives in the future, enable learning that could improve mental healthcare and treatment, strengthen diagnosis, ensure robust management of prescription medication, reinforce the need for co-parents to be informed and supported, and most importantly, ensure warning signs and risks to children are recognised before lives are lost. I do not believe there is a parent in the whole country who would accept an inquest being limited in its scope. Other, similar cases were not so limited. The role of the State Claims Agency in overseeing the HSE needs to be fully investigated. The role of the HSE in trying to limit this particular investigation has implications right now. It is current, it is not legacy and it needs to be looked at. Not following up on the process risks the perception of a State body represented at coroner inquests under agreement with the State Claims Agency being accused of deliberately attempting to avoid scrutiny and, in fact, working against the common good and the public interest. This needs follow-up. Will the Taoiseach or his office meet with Mr. McGinley to further pursue this? There are public interest issues that need to be addressed.

There are public interest issues and these issues are complex. It is my understanding that the new Mental Health Bill currently before the Seanad will provide for the appointment of a nominated person who can be involved in a person's care. However, I think the Deputy is talking more in terms of the inquest, the nature of that inquest,-----

I refer to all inquests.

-----the level of information that is put forward and the avoidance of any over-restriction in terms of information that may be put forward. I would like to discuss this later with the Ministers for Health and justice and the HSE to get their perspective on it. There clearly are issues here. I readily acknowledge that they need to be pursued and that those who have lost loved ones as a result of horrific events of this kind need to be listened to and heard.