Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

These hearings are in the context of pre-legislative scrutiny. The key issue for us is evidence. We have to satisfy ourselves that the evidence shows that enacting this legislation has the potential to save lives. We have to look at the Road Safety Authority evidence, including some of the points that have been made. We also have to look at international evidence.

There is no doubt that there has been a huge shift in the way people socialise. There is quite a lot of home drinking. Considering the number of pubs and their survival and so on, it is clear that although people have not stopped drinking they are getting it in a different place. It is not at all clear whether that kind of data is collected. We might note that. When people are breathalysed they might be asked about their drinking habits. One difference between drinking in the pub and at home is that people do not measure their drinks in the same way at home. There are other things we need to be looking at in terms of statistics that would be quite useful. That may be for another day.

There are probably drivers who are over the limit and are a risk to others although they have not intentionally set out to be. Some of it is the morning after and some of it is not being able to measure what they are drinking. We cannot be conclusive about the morning after and what makes somebody safe to drive. There is evidence that people are driving while compromised. There is more information gathering to be done, irrespective of this legislation.

We are listening to each side. It is very interesting that there is a difference in tone between the two associations. They may not be saying something different but their tone is different. Why are they not one organisation?