Mr. Gerry McMahon:

Yes, from the employer's point of view specifically. This element causes us major problems. Anyone who is working has a contract of employment. In most circumstances of which I am aware, the first duty of care listed in the contract is that, if someone is found to have consumed alcohol while on duty, he or she will lose his or her job. No one in his or her right mind in the transport sector - we represent many people who are in their right minds - would condone the consumption of alcohol or drugs or allow it to happen. An employer would not allow such a person on the road.

Let us consider our sector. It is mobile. We employ people who work across Europe 24-7. It is not as if everyone arrives for work at 9 a.m. and there is a supervisor who, seeing that everyone looks okay, decides whether he or she should bother with random testing. Drivers in the international haulage sector can be anywhere in Europe on any given day. An owner of a company might not see an employee at the company's premises for four weeks.

Therefore, the employee has a duty of care to himself or herself. The employer places trust in the employee and this has worked to date. I do not know where the precedent for this measure is coming from. I cannot find it, even in the legislation of some of the most safety conscious countries in Europe, including Sweden. It seems to be coming down the line through the Railway Safety Act 2005. Road transport and passenger transport are completely different. This issue has to be perceived in that light.

Without making excuses, I contend the country is aware of the difficulty we are experiencing in the transport sector owing to a shortage of drivers. That is not to say drivers would not take a job if they had to do what is proposed. Every proper professional driver is conscious of what he or she should and should not do, but the amount of new legislation affecting the sector is driving people out of it. It is a difficulty and, as far as we are concerned, just another nail in the coffin of small and medium-sized enterprises.