Proposed ban on E-scooters labelled “farcical”

The row over how to regulate e-scooters has dominated Irish society and politics for weeks with a proposed ban now being discussed.

Twelve children were admitted to CHI Temple Street in Dublin between June 2024 and May 2025 with a brain injury from an e-scooter crash. Between June 2025 and May 2026, that number increased to 18.

At least seven more have been admitted since May this year, the hospital said. As recently as last weekend, a man died in Galway in an e-scooter crash.

The number of injuries and deaths has sparked debate and a call to ban the electric vehicles entirely, something Dublin Commuter Coalition calls “farcical”.

The group says suggestions of a blanket ban for E-Scooters is an "unworkable, kneejerk reaction from a
Government that has not only failed to enforce its own regulations, they’ve also failed to
understand the underlying cause of the issue."

Transport campaigners say laws have been continuously undermined by retailers who stock vehicles that exceed the speed limitations.

The minimum recommended age for use by retailers can be as low as six years of age, despite the fact that the law makes it illegal for anyone under the age of sixteen to use an E-Scooter of any type.

A spokesperson for the coalition said that the adults using the vehicles are mostly law abiding.

"E-Scooters each day use them to travel to work, to shop in their local communities and escort their children riding bicycles to school. Not only would a blanket ban punish lawful E-Scooter owners but it would also punish commuters in general," a statement said.

It has been repeatedly noted that the M50 motorway is severely over capacity, and public transport in Ireland is not reliable.

"MetroLink is at least a decade away, and BusConnects, Dart+ & the Luas extensions go un-funded; however, the government seems to favour a policy that will push thousands back into cars," the statement added.

The Dublin Commuter Coalition is calling on the government to allocate the required resources for
An Garda Síochána to enforce the existing rules of the road, and to stop non-compliant
scooters from entering the market or be advertised for use by children.