Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. We have had a lot of discussion on this, but the thing about which I feel most concern is the question of making employers responsible for testing their employees. That is a very difficult thing to do, because if someone took cocaine it would be very difficult for an employer to have a mechanism to test them. We need to be very careful not to put too much onus on employers by making them responsible and imposing penalties on them. What is the opinion of the witnesses?

I am also concerned about speed and the 20 km/h speed limit which is going to be brought in. I put forward legislation on this subject in the Dáil, relating particularly to residential areas. I am aware that local authorities will have flexibility as to whether they introduce a limit of 20 km/h, 30 km/h, 40 km/h or whatever, but it is important to look at this issue, as there has been a big increase in the number of children killed this year. That is an added factor in considering a 20 km/h limit and I would like to hear the opinions of the witnesses on that.

Deputy Dooley asked about testing for drugs, but the combination of drugs and alcohol is a big issue. I have been of the opinion for a long time that a lot of people have been driving under the influence of drugs. We are discussing bringing in a new offence involving a combination of drugs and alcohol, and that is fair. It is one thing to take alcohol, but to take drugs, whether prescribed drugs or illegal drugs, creates a very dangerous situation, and I think it is a lot more prevalent than we realise.

What is the opinion of witnesses on the recording of cars that are written off? We used to call them "company cars" and there used to be a lot of them in our area, but there are not so many today, as cars have got older. Some of these cars did make their way back onto the streets, so it is welcome that we have a register of some description. A significant percentage of cars that are not written off but, for insurance reasons, are declared to be not worth repairing are nevertheless being repaired and coming back on the road. I would like to hear the thoughts of the witnesses on that.

I know we are trying to enter into an arrangement with the UK on serious driving offences, North and South, but it is important we push this on a European level. I do not recognise the Border, but penalty points should apply on both sides of the Border, as well as rules applying to speed limits and signage, because it is very confusing when one hits the Border, particularly if one is a tourist. I know there is a lot of resistance to this, but it needs to be pushed more and more.