Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of my Dáil colleagues who are attending the funeral of the mother of the Vice Chairman, Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe, to which the Chairman kindly alluded earlier. I welcome the witnesses whose evidence and presentations have been compelling. I find very little fault with what has been said. For anyone with any bit of wisdom, drink driving is a bad news story. We are all on the one side on this issue. Certainly, my party takes a responsible view on it.

I have one or two queries. Deputy Troy has raised a matter a number of times and hopes to engage with the witnesses, possibly even before the day is out. How up to date are the figures and statistics that we are using? Are they the latest figures? If there is a glitch, why? Does the RSA have more recent figures that we have not seen or heard of and, if so, why? I ask these questions because, in the context of the recent Garda penalty points controversy, there is a question mark over many statistics that are in the public domain. It would be important for us to know the status of the figures that the witnesses are offering us.

Despite the crackdowns and publicity as well as the Garda's large operation over Christmas, there seems to be a continual increase in the number of offences involving people driving under the influence. Is there any solution to this and are other alternatives being considered? While we would support all endeavours that were geared towards reducing road fatalities, one wonders whether the overall process is capable of succeeding. Are there other views on how the issue might be addressed?

My only negative point relates to the hard words that have been spoken at this meeting about the Vintners Federation of Ireland, almost as if - certainly in the Minister's view - it is the big bad wolf. To a certain extent, Ms Murdock has gone down that road as well. Like all organisations, those in the Vintners Federation of Ireland are professionals who represent their members. I have always found them to be professional and reasonable. As every committee member will know from personal experience or anecdote, there is no more responsible person in any small community than the local publican, who is well aware of his or her responsibilities. Publicans' concern for their customers is commendable. Often, they are the first to spot problems with people's drinking. I speak from personal experience. They fill an important psychological role for people in isolated areas. As such, it is not helpful that the Vintners Federation of Ireland should be conveyed as the big bad wolf in this story. It has a role to play.