A Garda unit trained to use drones to track scrambler motorcyclists that are “terrorising communities” cannot operate because of a lack of legislative clarity, the Dáil has heard.
Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly said “my community and many others throughout the State are being terrorised by scramblers every day driving on our roads, our footpaths and in our parks”.
He said: “I’ve consistently asked about an anti-scrambler unit that is trained and resourced to deal with this scourge”.
A Garda unit trained since 2023 to use them cannot do so because the requisite legislation is not in place, he added.
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The Dublin West TD said it is “bizarre that I can get a coffee or fast food delivered” by a drone but the Garda cannot use them.
He added: “We have the Army use them, we have Civil Defence use them, we have rescue teams use them ... why can’t the guards use them? It makes no sense to me.”
Mr Donnelly told the Dáil that “drones are used in conjunction with anti-scrambler units by British police” and “we know it works but yet we do not have the resources here”, despite the training carried out.
Speaking afterwards, he said British police set up a number of units across England and Wales. “They have as serious a problem with scramblers as we do.”
“They bought their own scramblers and they usually operate in units of three to four motorbikes and then they have drones.”
They track the scramblers through drones, with police on motorbikes then following them through housing estates – and “they basically track them down and get the bikes off them”.
“It’s a much cheaper effort than using helicopters,” he said. “We’ve only the one helicopter for Dublin.“
Mr Donnelly said gardaí originally bought 12 drones and trained their officers, training that finished in 2023. A number of weeks ago the Dublin West TD wrote to the Minister for Justice about the issue, which was forwarded to the Garda Commissioner for response.
“Basically they just mothballed the drones and said ‘we can’t use them because we don’t have legislative clarity’”, Mr Donnelly said.
Responding for the Government, Tánaiste Simon Harris said it was “obviously a serious issue” for Mr Donnelly’s constituents. “From memory, I think there was some legislative work done on this in the previous Oireachtas.”
He added: “I will certainly ask the Minister for Justice to seek the views of Garda management and respond to the deputy directly.”
Meanwhile Mr Donnelly’s constituency colleague Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman introduced private member’s legislation on the regulation of drones.
He said of his Drone Regulation Bill that there is “an urgent need for airborne delivery drones to be regulated because, right now, the rules around their use are incredibly lax”.
Mr O’Gorman said the drone delivery of food takeaway orders across Dublin 15 “will spread to more areas across Dublin and the country”.
Constituents have raised “a wide range of issues related to airborne delivery drones, including concerns about the noise from these machines, the safety of them” and the planning status of drone bases.
There were also privacy issues because the drones are fitted with cameras and people have expressed concern about their impact on wildlife.
