Ms Donna Price:

Yes. I want to reply to Deputy Troy's concern for those caught the next morning with residual alcohol in their system, and I want to allay his fears. The proposal is not to change the blood alcohol level at which it is an offence to drive, which is 50 mg. For any reading below 50 mg, it is not a crime or an offence to drive and people with a reading below that level will not be prosecuted. The Deputy should also bear in mind that before a prosecution takes place and the level of alcohol present in one's system is decided, the reading on the machine is reduced by 17.5% in order to be sure to be sure that a person is over the limit before he or she is prosecuted. Anybody driving with alcohol in their system up to or around 50 mg gets off with it. We have cases where families have lost a loved one, where their only child has been killed by a person who was driving at the limit of 50 mg after that allowance of 17.5% was taken into account, and that is completely unacceptable. Even if we are leaving the legislation as it stands, families are losing their loved ones because somebody has chosen to drive and may still be on that limit. We have to send out the right message from here. I believe zero tolerance is right. I agree with Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick. We will get there eventually because this has to be the case, but all we are seeking to do now is to send out the right message - and to have in place a stronger deterrent - to people that if they do take a chance and drink drive, they will lose their licence. That has to be the case because given that the level of enforcement is much lower there is little chance of being caught and people are taking chances.

I do not agree regarding the speed issue. The assistant commissioner said earlier that the compliance level is better now. I drove here today with my speedometer at 80 km/h and the other cars on the road were flying past me. I was the only motorist driving at the speed limit in Lucan coming into town this morning, and that is not acceptable.