The Labour Party has for the second time proposed joyriding be made a criminal offence.
As gardaí wait to interview two teenagers involved in the joyriding incident that killed two gardaí at the weekend, Mr Tommy Broughan will try to bring the Bill he first proposed in April 2000 before the Dáil tomorrow.
Mr Broughan, Labour's social community and family affairs spokesman, said when he proposed the idea two years ago, it was rejected by the Government.
"I was astonished when the Fianna Fáil/PD government insisted on voting down the Bill, even though many Fianna Fáil backbenchers who spoke accepted that joyriding was a major problem and acknowledged the merits of the Bill.
"What is even worse is that after voting it down they then did absolutely nothing themselves to try to deal with the problem," he said.
He said the Bill would allow gardaí to use stingers - a spiked chain thrown across a road that punctures tyres - in joyriding cases. The law only provides for the use of the device when a crime is being committed. It also proposes penalties of up to seven years in prison and periods of disqualification from driving for up to five years.
"Nobody would suggest that legislative measures alone would deal with the problem of joyriding . . . [but] legislation is an essential part of the solution," Mr Broughan said.
The 15- and 16-year-old boys who where injured when the car they were travelling in crashed into and killed Garda Anthony Tighe (53) and Garda Michael Padden (27) on the Stillorgan dual carriageway in Dublin last Sunday are being treated in St James’s Hospital.
The removal of Garda Tighe takes place at Newlands Cross, Dublin, today. Garda Padden’s remains were today moved to his home town of Belmullet, Co Mayo, and will be buried on Thursday.