Regulations to ban scramblers outright in public places were delayed due to “competing” interests in the Department of Transport across 2½ years, documents show.
The Government has had the power since 2023 to impose an explicit ban on such vehicles, but it did not move to enact the regulations until shortly after Grace Lynch (16) was fatally injured by a scrambler in Finglas, Dublin last January.
The records show the Garda asked the department – almost a year before Grace was killed – about the progress of regulations after it was informed by Fingal County Council that it had passed a motion raising concerns about the number of scrambler incidents in its area.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said at the time of Grace’s death hat he did not have “a satisfactory answer” for why this had not happened and that it was “not an acceptable situation”. The ban, which is to be signed into law this month, will be known as Grace’s Law.
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Minutes and records of eight meetings between An Garda Síochána and the department, released under Freedom of Information law, show the regulations were consistently raised between 2023 and earlier this year.
The Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 had given the Minister for Transport power to ban specific vehicles, such as scramblers, from public places. The same law made it an offence to drive an unregistered off-road vehicle such as a scrambler in a public place, to drive any vehicle dangerously in a public place, and gave gardaí the power to seize scrambler bikes.
Minutes of a November 2023 meeting noted that the scrambler regulations “have been slightly delayed due to competing commitments”.
The department told The Irish Times “the competing demands that delayed the making of the regulations” referred to the Road Traffic Act 2024, a separate piece of legislation.
“This was emergency legislation brought forward by Minister [Jack] Chambers in response to deteriorating road safety trends at that time and was developed in a rapid manner over a period of months. The Bill was enacted in April 2024, having commenced development in late 2023.”
But in correspondence between the department and Garda in February 2025, after the Road Traffic Act 2024 was enacted, “competing work commitments” were again blamed for the “slow” progress of the scrambler regulations.
The Garda had written to the department that month seeking an update on the regulations after the Ballymun station was told by Fingal County Council it had passed a motion raising a “red alert” about the increasing number of incidents with scramblers in the council area.
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It was noted at a meeting in February 2024 that “more consultation” was needed on the regulations. It was agreed to start planning the wording of the regulations at a meeting in May 2024. The regulations were again discussed by the department and Garda in June, September and November of last year.
At a meeting on January 13th last, 12 days before Grace Lynch’s death, the department and Garda again discussed the implementation of the regulations.
The department said “it is important to be clear that there was no delay in terms of the legal ban on scrambler use in public places” and that scramblers were “already comprehensively illegal aside from appropriate off-road uses”.
The Garda said it “does not comment on or discuss matters concerning pending legislation”.
