The Government is to examine legislation that will give greater protection to members of An Garda Síochána from prosecution for road safety offences committed during active duty.
Speaking at a road safety event in Galway on Thursday morning, Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney said the Government would act to ensure gardaí are not “living in fear” while performing their duties.
This comes days after Garda Sean Shields was disqualified from driving for two years for dangerous driving after he pursued two masked individuals riding scrambler bikes in Dublin in May 2024.
Shields has indicated he intends to appeal this decision.
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Canney said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision and said the Government would be giving “every support” to members of the Garda.
“What we need to do is make sure they [gardaí] have every support we can give them from a political level. No doubt about it, we will be discussing this with Minister [for Justice] Jim O’Callaghan to see what legislation we need to ensure gardaí can do their jobs without living in fear that they themselves will be prosecuted.
“It was surprising, it was disappointing. I want to say, on behalf of the Government, we have full confidence in the gardaí and what they do and we will continue to support them.”
Canney also said An Garda Síochána had all the resources it needed to fully enforce Grace’s Law, which gives gardaí increased powers to confiscate scrambler bikes.
This comes after Siobhán Lynch, mother of Grace Lynch, said a law named in her daughter’s memory, which comes into effect on Friday, would be a “mockery to her name” if it could not be enforced.
Grace (16) died after being hit by a scrambler as she used a pedestrian crossing on Ratoath Road, Finglas. A man later appeared in court charged in connection with the incident.
Canney answered “absolutely” when asked whether gardaí had the ability to enforce this new law.
“The regulations which were brought in are very, very clear. A scrambler cannot be used in any public place. It gives clarity to the gardaí that if there is one there in a public place, it shouldn’t be there and it can be confiscated,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the gardaí have been working already in this area and have confiscated a large number of machines that should not be on our roads.
“Up to this they had to be driving carelessly, now it is an offence to have them on the road.”
Canney also said the Government was moving forward on the possible roll-out of alcohol ignition interlocks or alcolocks, including on public transport.
“We are looking to see how we can introduce them, how we can encourage people and maybe fleets [of vehicles] to introduce them and how we can introduce them on public transport,” he said.
“We are looking at what legislation we would need to introduce, if any. I think it is another instrument we can use to reduce fatalities on our roads.”
The Minister was speaking at a large Garda checkpoint outside of Loughrea, Galway this morning, where An Garda Síochána launched its Easter road safety campaign.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed 42 people had died on Irish roads so far this year, including 12 pedestrians, two cyclists, one motorcyclist and an e-scooter user.
Alison Coleman of the Road Safety Authority urged motorists to look out for the most vulnerable road users over this bank holiday weekend.
“Last year unfortunately the data shows that we were up 24 per cent on deaths among our most vulnerable road users, our pedestrians,” she said.
“When you sit behind the wheel of any vehicle, you are driving a very powerful and sometimes lethal machine. Please do not drink and drive, wear your seat belt, please put down your mobile phone, there is absolutely no need to use it while behind the wheel of a car.”
Siobhán Lynch earlier told Newstalk’s The Claire Byrne Show she would be in favour of an age restriction on vehicles including e-bikes and e-scooters.
“I want parents to take full responsibility for anyone underage, that if anything happens, the parents are fully, solely responsible and fined. And we want some big fines to happen now, for the vendors that are selling them, for the parents.”
Grace’s father Martin said although there appeared to have been a lull initially in the wake of Grace’s death, in recent times he had noticed more and more activity on streets.
“We’re back to the same behaviour, wheelies, in and out of traffic.”
