Debate contribution: Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Patsy McGlone on 9 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Patsy McGlone

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

9 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5602092

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The fifth group of amendments is united and clearly defined by a straightforward objective: to make our roads, streets and public spaces safer. The SDLP welcomes the provisions on drink- and drug-driving. I will begin by speaking to amendment Nos 74 and 75. No one should underestimate the dangers posed by driving while impaired through alcohol or drugs. Whether that impairment arises through drink or drugs, the consequences can be equally devastating. Drivers place themselves, their passengers and other road users at risk when they get behind the wheel while their judgement, reaction times and awareness are compromised. The measures before us recognise the simple reality that the police need practical and proportionate powers to identify those who may be unfit to drive and to gather the evidence necessary to secure enforcement action where appropriate. The introduction of roadside drug-testing powers alongside the ability to obtain evidential samples through established procedures will help to ensure that the law keeps pace with changing patterns of offending and changing forms of impairment. They are sensible, measured provisions that support road safety and effective enforcement. I want to spend a little more time on amendment No 90. At this stage, I thank Paul Frew and Nuala McAllister for their endorsement, as well as others who have expressed their verbal support to me during the development of the amendment. It is clear to anyone who walks through our towns and cities, especially, or visits parks and speaks to local residents that the misuse of scramblers and other vehicles has escalated well beyond a nuisance issue. Constituents contact us regularly — principally people in some of the more built-up and urban areas — about near misses involving children, elderly pedestrians and families who are using public spaces. Many Members will be familiar with complaints about high-powered scramblers tearing through parks and housing estates and e-scooters travelling at speed on footpaths in a reckless and intimidating manner. In communities across the North, what should be shared public spaces have too often become places where residents feel unsafe. We should be clear about the risks involved. I am glad that we have the opportunity to speak about them today. When they are used irresponsibly, those vehicles are capable of causing serious injury; indeed, the Committee Chair, Paul Frew, referred to an incident in his constituency. I am sure that there have been multiple other similar instances. In some circumstances, they can cause death. The consequences for pedestrians, particularly children, older people and people with disabilities, can be catastrophic, as they can be for the people who use the vehicles. The PSNI has repeatedly highlighted the practical difficulties associated with tackling that behaviour. Officers often face a difficult choice: either they pursue a vehicle and risk escalating a dangerous situation, or they allow that behaviour to continue because the legal threshold for intervention has not yet been met. That is why amendment No 90 is so important. The amendment removes the requirement for a prior warning before a vehicle can be seized where it has been used in a manner that causes alarm, distress or annoyance. In our view, that reflects the reality of the situation faced by communities and the police. Where a vehicle has already been used in a dangerous, reckless or intimidatory manner, it is difficult to justify a position where the response of the authorities is simply to issue a warning and allow that individual to continue on their way. The purpose of seizure powers is preventative. They exist to prevent harm from occurring to pedestrians and the people who use the vehicles, not simply to respond after somebody has been injured. The amendment therefore provides the PSNI with a practical tool to intervene at the point where intervention is needed most. It also sends an important message: public spaces belong to everyone. They belong to families, children, older people, people who are walking to work and those who simply wish to enjoy their local communities without fear, intimidation or risk. The rights of those individuals must come before the interests of those who choose to use vehicles irresponsibly and, in some cases, dangerously. Taken together, the amendments represent proportionate and practical measures aimed at protecting the public. They strengthen the police's ability to tackle impaired driving, provide more effective powers for dealing with dangerous and antisocial vehicle use and help to ensure that our roads, streets and public spaces are safer for everyone who uses them. For those reasons, the SDLP welcomes the amendments in the group and, in particular, calls on Members to support amendment No 90.

765 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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