Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Instead of a three month automatic disqualification there would be a six month minimum if convicted in court. In a rural area, more people will challenge it because they will be off the road rather than the 82% who opt for the fixed penalty notice in that cohort. We need to factor that into this debate because it was not part of the regulatory impact analysis. I am conscious that there are people who were five or six times the legal limit, having drunk eight or ten pints, who are arrested, do the readings and go back on the road the following day and drive for months without being put off it. I would be fearful that many of them would be on the roads much longer without coming to court as a result of this. It has not been factored into the thinking behind the Bill. Have the witnesses come across the waiting times in their research?