Dr. Declan Bedford:

They do not have that facility so much in rural areas. In Dublin if somebody is on a night out, he or she can get the DART, Luas or the bus home, or even walk. If a person is down in the middle of the country, he or she is more tempted to drive and take a chance. Much of this is population-based but even still we see some variation between counties that are roughly the same size. One would expect Leitrim, as the smallest county in the country, to have the smallest number, for example, but it is second to last. That is over one year and we might find the county down around there every year. We have discussed at board level putting these figures at per thousand of population, and that might balance it and give a better reading.

With regard to the Senator's other suggestion, the director and I, along with anybody else from the bureau, would be very happy to come before the committee again.