Every e-scooter in the country will need to be registered from September under a Government plan to “get control back” amid concerns about serious and life-threatening injuries to children.Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney confirmed the move.It came after the Government leaders agreed new proposals on Monday to ban e-scooters for under-18s.New proposals, including making hi-viz jackets and helmets mandatory for all e-scooter use and extending a ban to under-18s, will be brought to Cabinet next week and will come into effect from August.In September, more legislation will follow to treat e-scooters like all other “mechanically propelled vehicles”, meaning they will require licences and registration. An outright ban will “remain on the table” but was not agreed to by Ministers on Monday, sources said. “[What] we’re trying to do is to find out how many e-scooters we have in the country, who owns them? Who’s driving them? And who’s responsible for them? And who’s responsible for selling them?” Canney told RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime programme on Monday evening.“The issue around roadworthiness for that is something that we will have to look at in time. But the immediate thing here is to get control back on e-scooters, so that we know what we’re doing.”Canny said although some of the proposals announced on Monday might “sound harsh” on teenagers who had been using e-scooters responsibly, “what we have to do is make sure that we’re doing things to arrest this thing that’s happening in relation to children and their injuries”.“And nobody will thank me or thank anybody else if this continues to grow in the numbers that are getting injured and the amount of life-changing injuries that people get as a result of this.”Legislation planned for later this year will also prohibit the sale of scooters to minors and the sale of e-scooters that do not meet the legal requirements for use on public roads.E-scooters are currently legal for over-16s at a maximum speed of 20km/h on public roads.[ E-scooters to be banned for under-18s under proposals agreed by GovernmentOpens in new window ]The move follows concerns about the number of children who have been hospitalised with traumatic injuries after e-scooter crashes.Data from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) says the number of children and young people admitted to hospital with traumatic brain injuries following e-scooter incidents increased by 50 per cent year on year.Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Canney and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan met Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly in Government Buildings on Monday morning. Kelly told the meeting there had been a significant increase in Garda operations connected to e-scooters. He told Government leaders 1,412 e-scooters have been seized so far this year and there have been 793 prosecutions for their possession. The meeting also considered data from CHI and the Health Service Executive on a pattern of children suffering serious and life-changing injuries from e-scooters. It was also agreed further protections will be provided to members of An Garda Síochána to mirror the system in the UK. This would grant greater legal protections to gardaí when pursuing e-scooters and e-bikes.Speaking to journalists outside Government Buildings, the Taoiseach said the meeting had heard a presentation from the Garda Commissioner, who stressed that enforcement on e-scooters was already happening and there had been “a lot of seizures both last year and an increasing amount this year for those breaking the law”.He said there was also a preliminary report from CHI that was “very, very serious in terms of the number of young people and children in particular who have been injured, traumatic brain injury”. He said that more than a third of all presentations for brain inquiries to children’s hospitals were due to e-scooter incidents.He said Cabinet would consider the proposals to restrict e-scooters to over-18s when it met next week., A full ban would be kept on the table, he said.“It’s crazy that young people under 18 should be using e-scooters,” he said.He saidwhen a scooter is seized, the penalties would be much higher to get it returned. He also promised new laws to protect gardaí who are pursuing e-scooters.Last week, both the Taoiseach and Kelly indicated they would support a ban on e-scooters. Martin said he was “leaning towards” a total ban on e-scooters as the Dáil discussed the issue following incidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries. Meanwhile, Kelly told a meeting of the Oireachtas justice committee that he agreed with calls for a ban on e-scooters, saying society would be “better off” without them. There were 1,130 attendances to emergency departments at CHI between January 2021 and last August due to e-scooter-related injuries.A dozen children were admitted to CHI at Temple Street under the neurosurgery team with traumatic brain injuries sustained in e-scooter crashes between June 2024 and May 2025.[ E-scooters are being used for drug dealing and intimidation, Garda chief saysOpens in new window ]There was then a 50 per cent increase in admissions in the period from June 2025 to last May, with 18 children admitted. At least seven more have been admitted since then, CHI said. [ Mother warns of e-scooter dangers: ‘The last place you want to be is in ICU with your child’Opens in new window ]