David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know. To respond to Deputy Chambers's question, the position is that there are custody regulations in place and they allow the member in charge to seek medical treatment, where necessary. If the member in charge believes that somebody is at risk from the point of view of health or worse, they can and have to get medical attention.

On the six hours issue, we had to strike a balance between what is reasonable detention and a person's freedom. People should not be held but if somebody who is dangerously intoxicated was allowed to leave a Garda station and they got hurt, hurt somebody else or were killed, questions would be asked as to why they were released when they did not know what they were doing. That is the purpose of this provision. As Deputy O'Callaghan said, the common law is a very vague animal and we want to make it clear under statute, and it is a maximum amount of time. I believe that if somebody was that dangerously intoxicated initially, the member in charge would seek medical advice. There are custody regulations in place to govern this area and they have to be followed but seeking medical advice is part of that.