Mr. Michael Finn:

Enforcement is probably the most important item for us. That is our primary role. We are the enforcement agency so we must be visible. We upped the ante with our Christmas campaign and utilised all of the resources that were at our disposal to make an impact. The 34% increase at Christmas time was because we were out there and so did more. The media side of the Christmas campaign was powerful and even inspired our own people. We could see from an early stage in our campaign how many people were prepared to drink and drive. There must be a deterrent. If people do not see a deterrent then they will continue to take a chance. A combination of factors act as a deterrent and our presence is one of them. To me, good strong legislation and a good penalty act as a deterrent. All of this has an impact when people are deciding whether to chance driving home. People weigh up certain factors when trying to make a decision such as the chance or likelihood of getting caught and the penalty if one is caught. I support any measure that will convince people of the dangers of getting caught drink-driving. I do not just mean the immediate impact drink-driving has on other road users. I believe one reason that drink-driving legislation is contested so vigorously is because losing a driver licence has an impact. I recollect from the time when I was a young garda on the street that drink-driving cases were vigorously contested in court. People value their driver licence and the potential to lose one's licence makes people reflect.