Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We had a love affair with alcohol, but over the past 30 years we have done a lot to stop drink driving. I was always amused to hear that many people did not drink and drive, not because they could have killed themselves or somebody else, but because they could have lost their driving licence and be put off the road. Penalties, including fines, have made a huge difference in making people aware of the importance of bringing down the road-death toll.

The Garda Síochána can sometimes be used as a political football, for example, plans to increase the traffic corps by 10%. I was involved in a push to save Garda stations - and I would have left gardaí to do their own job - but rural stations closed. Gardaí know how to target the issues through criminal profiling which reduced crime. Garda stations do not effectively stop crime, but it can be reduced through the way in which Garda resources are utilised.

I like to see Garda checkpoints. When there was a threat to this State 25 years ago, I was delighted anytime that gardaí operated checkpoints because it was effective law enforcement. I am a little concerned, however, that we are increasing the traffic corps by 10% to stop people drink driving, when there should be a lot more undercover work and criminal profiling. I am concerned that we are doing this just to look good. We may be using modern technology for speeding, but is the Department aware of alternative technology? We need to examine a system whereby if a person has taken two or three drinks they simply cannot drive their car as modern technology will detect the alcohol and shut down the engine. In that case, instead of tying up garda resources on the road, we could deploy them on undercover work to deal with criminal gangs.