Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not my intention to drag out the debate but it is the Minister who has failed to bring this legislation through the Oireachtas in a timely manner. It is he who has failed to secure Government time to debate this measure in the Dáil, and it is not the Opposition. If he had secured time in the Dáil, as he said he would, before the last summer recess it would have been dealt with. I will move amendment No. 1a.

The Minister is cynically presenting this Bill as a fix-all for drink driving and condemning the quality of the amendments that have been put by the Opposition. At the same time, he claims he is advancing this Bill to save lives. I accept there might be quality issues but we are working on independently audited figures from the Road Safety Authority from 2008-2012. Is the Minister and the Department still working from those figures or has the Road Safety Authority submitted new, updated figures?

Can the Minister confirm the current strength of the traffic corps? Does he accept my amendment, on a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine of €10,000? One half of fatality cases in the report on the 2008-2012 period involved alcohol in excess of 200 mg, four times over the legal limit, but the Minister is saying that, because of a quality issue with an amendment, he cannot accept it. Can he accept the principle of the proposal? If so, can he work with us and his officials to see if we can improve on the amendment for Report Stage, to ensure we can enable a judge to send out a very clear message to someone who has four times the legal limit of alcohol in their system?