Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Seán Canney will today launch new e-scooter road safety measures, but a planned increase in the age limit from 16 to 18 years will not take place until later in the year.
From Friday, helmets and high-visibility clothing will be mandatory for those using e-scooters.
This is a key part of the Government’s response to the alarming number of serious head injuries and fatalities among e-scooter users, particularly children.
But one of the major new road safety initiatives agreed by Government before the summer is going to take several more months to implement.
That is the move to increase minimum age at which someone can use an e-scooter from 16 to 18 years.
After legal advice from the Attorney General’s office, this measure has had to be submitted to the European Commission.
This is part of a process known as the EU Technical Regulation Information System.
It takes up to 12 weeks to complete and the aim in Government is to have the age limit regulations in place before the end of the year.
While the fees for the detention and storage of seized e-scooters will be doubled from €50 to €100 from the beginning of October.
Separately, the Cabinet will meet today, and the Higher Education Minister James Lawless will seek approval to expand the remit of the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA), enabling it to support the delivery of major public infrastructure projects nationwide.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris will update colleagues on the two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the US. The Tánaiste represented the EU Council at the meetings.
He also met with John Healey, Chancellor of the UK, Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance for Canada and Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Finance for Singapore.
John Healey will attend the Informal ECOFIN meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Dublin later this month.