Ms Velma Burns:

I support everything Ms Murdock has said. All the facts are backed up by the research we have conducted. For the benefit of everyone in the room, I would like to explain the process involved in the conduct of the pre-crash study. It is a unique study in Europe as not all our counterparts across Europe have the same access as we have to the fatal investigation files. It is very valuable information for us. We are an organisation that pride ourselves on the development of evidence-based interventions, and while we have access to collision data from An Garda Síochána on a daily basis giving us the update of the number of people killed on our roads every day, that is preliminary information. The information held in the fatal investigation files is the Holy Grail. It is the definitive outcome of the investigation and allows us to identify exactly what happened in these fatal collisions. That is what is contained in this report.

Many questions were asked about various figures in the report. To explain, this is not an ordinary report. It is not based on a survey or on dry, secondary research. People's lives are accounted for in the report. I was closely involved in the commissioning of this study. We commissioned two independent researchers to conduct the data collection for us. We were granted access to the files in Garda headquarters in the Garda National Traffic Bureau. I have also had an opportunity to look at these files. A total of 867 files were analysed in the context of this five year study. That represents 88% of all the fatal collisions that occurred over that five year period.

To explain what is contained in the files, there are a series of reports in them. There is the report of the forensic collision investigator, which examines the road, the vehicle, whether skidding occurred, etc. There are also a series of medical reports, including the coroner's report and the medical reports from the hospital if the person had been in hospital for a period. There is also the vehicle inspector's report, which includes a forensic examination of the vehicle to see if there were any contributory factors. There are also very detailed witness statements, which is helpful information as to what happened prior to the crash. In the case of some of these files, for example, where we did not have a toxicology report, there may have been witness statements to the effect that a person had consumed alcohol over a period of hours before they drove. There is a huge amount of detail in them.

The files were quite harrowing for our two researchers to review. They referred to the files as boxes of death. It was painstaking work that was emotionally draining and harrowing. They were at pains to identify all the contributory factors to these collisions to help us understand exactly what caused them and, ultimately, to give us the information that would then allow us to say definitively what is causing them and how interventions can be best addressed to prevent further collisions on the roads.

That alcohol report is one of a series of reports. Drink-driving is known as one of the key killer behaviours. There are other killer behaviours. We have reports on the other killer behaviours, such as speeding. We focus on all the killer behaviours, and alcohol is one that has emerged particularly strongly from this study, being responsible for 38% of all collisions that have occurred over that five year period. It is a very important piece of research. We have used, and continue to use, the evidence in the development of all our interventions.