The offence of unauthorised taking of a mechanically propelled vehicle commonly referred to as ‘joyriding' is a criminal offence under section 112 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, as amended. The legislation pertaining to the investigation of criminal damage, burning out cars, is defined under section 2 of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991.
The penalties available to the courts for these offences include fines, terms of imprisonment, or both, or disqualification and orders on a defendant's driving licence.
The annual reports of An Garda Síochána shows the number of unauthorised taking of vehicles as 13,793, provisional, in respect of 1998, 13,589 in 1997 and 13,405 in 1996. These statistics contrast with the 1983 total of 19,484 cases of unauthorised taking.
I have been assured by the Garda authorities that the legislation in force is adequate to cover the present situation. I should state however, that any amendment to road traffic legislation is matter for the Minister for the Environment and Local Government who is responsible for all road traffic legislation.
I have been further assured by the Garda authorities that the strategies currently in place to combat joyriding and other criminal damage are reviewed periodically and changes to tactics are made where necessary to ensure continued effectiveness.