E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries at Mater Hospital Have Roughly Doubled as Oireachtas Committee Hears Alarm
Emergency department presentations at the Mater Hospital in Dublin involving e-scooters and e-bikes have roughly doubled in recent years, with e-scooters now the leading cause of paediatric brain injury admissions to the national neurosurgical centre, an Oireachtas justice committee was told this week, as the government presses ahead with legislation to restrict the use of the vehicles.
Background
The rapid proliferation of e-scooters and e-bikes on Irish streets over the past five years has generated a public health challenge that the country's road safety and healthcare systems were not prepared for. Unlike conventional bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes can reach speeds of 25 kilometres per hour or more, and their riders — particularly younger users — frequently do so without helmets or other protective equipment. The legal status of e-scooters in Ireland has been ambiguous for much of this period, with the vehicles technically classified as mechanically propelled vehicles but widely used on footpaths and cycle lanes without enforcement.
The Mater Hospital in Dublin's north inner city is the national neurosurgical centre for the Republic of Ireland, meaning that the most serious brain injuries from across the country are treated there. Its emergency department data therefore provides a particularly sensitive indicator of the scale of the e-scooter injury problem. The hospital has been tracking e-scooter and e-bike admissions since 2021, and the trend has been consistently upward.
The government has been developing legislation to address the issue since 2025, when the scale of the injury data first became publicly available. The proposed measures include banning under-18s from riding e-scooters, making helmets and high-visibility clothing mandatory for all riders, and requiring mandatory registration and licensing of e-scooters as mechanically propelled vehicles.
Key Developments
Data presented to the Oireachtas justice committee this week revealed that e-scooter admissions to the Mater's emergency department rose from 173 in 2021 to 309 in 2025. E-scooters are now the leading cause of paediatric brain injury admissions to the national neurosurgical centre, with 18 children admitted in 2025 — a 50% increase on the previous year. E-bike admissions more than doubled from 53 in 2024 to 115 in 2025, and in the first half of 2026 alone, 76 people presented to the Mater's A&E following an e-bike-related incident.
Between July 2021 and June 2023, 30 children were admitted to the Mater with e-scooter-related brain injuries, with the majority suffering skull fractures and nearly half requiring intensive care and emergency surgery. Among adults, 11 of 380 admitted patients suffered bleeding on the brain during the same period. Data from Children's Health Ireland indicated that 1,130 attendances to emergency departments occurred between January 2021 and August 2025 due to e-scooter injuries, with one to two children presenting daily by 2026.
As of July 2026, Gardaí had seized 1,412 e-scooters and initiated 793 prosecutions for possession of non-road-legal vehicles. Emergency doctors are expected to call for an import ban on non-road-legal vehicles at an upcoming Oireachtas committee session.
Why It Matters
The e-scooter injury data represents a public health emergency that has developed in plain sight. The vehicles have been widely available for purchase in Irish shops and online for years, marketed to children and adults alike, while the legal framework governing their use has lagged far behind their proliferation. The result is a generation of young people who have grown up riding e-scooters on footpaths and roads without helmets, without training, and without any meaningful enforcement of the rules that do exist.
The Mater Hospital data is particularly alarming because it captures only the most serious injuries — those requiring neurosurgical intervention. The full scale of e-scooter-related injuries presenting to emergency departments across the country is substantially larger. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda reported that patient attendances for e-scooter or e-bike crashes quadrupled in 2026 compared to 2025, suggesting that the Mater's figures are the tip of a much larger iceberg.
Local Impact
In Dublin, where e-scooter use is most concentrated, the impact is felt most acutely in the emergency departments of the Mater, St. Vincent's, and Beaumont hospitals, all of which have reported significant increases in e-scooter-related presentations. The north inner city, where the Mater is located, has a high density of e-scooter users, including delivery workers and commuters. The proposed ban on under-18s will affect thousands of young people in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Limerick who currently use e-scooters for school commutes and leisure. Schools have been asked to communicate the new rules to pupils and parents ahead of the legislation's commencement.
What's Next
The government's legislation to regulate e-scooters is expected to be brought before the Dáil before the end of 2026. The measures will include mandatory registration, licensing, helmet requirements, and an age restriction of 18 for e-scooter use. Emergency doctors are expected to call for an import ban on non-road-legal vehicles at an upcoming Oireachtas committee session. The Road Safety Authority has been asked to develop a public awareness campaign on e-scooter safety, and the Garda Síochána has indicated it will increase enforcement activity in the interim.
