Cllr: We already have legislation on e-scooters

Existing regulations on e-scooters should be properly enforced before new ones are put in place, according to Cork City councillor Oliver Moran.

Earlier this week, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that legislation is to come before cabinet which would increase the age limit for owning e-scooters to over 18s. Currently, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to own one.

The regulations will also include mandatory use of helmets and hi-vis, and mandatory licensing and insurance for users.

However, Cllr Moran said that requirements for licensing and insurance pose problems.

“Last year, we had a backlog of 72,000 people looking for driver's licences. Now, about 165,000 e-scooter users will need licences too, all at one go.

“I know from cycling, there's no insurer in Ireland who insures cyclists, because ironically the risk is too low to make it a viable insurance product. There are just so many questions, I can't even begin, and still e-scooters are being openly sold to children in toy stores like on Maylor Street.

“What people want is enforcement of the laws that are there.

If we don’t do that, what good are new regulations brought in in a rush?” he said.

Since June of this year, an average of two children a day have been admitted to Dublin’s Temple Street Children’s Hospital with brain injuries resulting from e-scooter accidents, according to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).

Almost 40 children have been admitted with brain injuries since e-scooters were made road-legal in May 2024, compared with just one prior to then.

Dr Irwin Gill, Consultant Paediatrician at CHI said: “Many of the children we care for…are left with life-changing brain injuries as a result of their e-scooter crashes that can result in permanent physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities.

“Preventing these injuries must be a public health priority,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.