Professor Denis Cusack:

Yes, because levels for drivers of commercial vehicles are down at 20 mg. Whatever level you are at, however, the higher the level, if you are found guilty on a prosecution, the greater the penalty in terms of fine and disqualification. As regards driving with alcohol and cocaine, many gardaí will say there is so much work involved and there is no greater penalty for that. I proposed a few years ago - and this is coming up again - that if, for example, you have 81 mg of alcohol in your blood and also cannabis over the limit, that should bump you up to the next level. It is very simple to sell that message to the public. It could be complicated legally and technically, but the message is that the more intoxicated you are in the combination of alcohol or drugs, or alcohol and drugs, the higher the penalty should be because you are putting yourself and others at greater risk by being impaired. That is one of the legislative enabler group's commitments.

Also, there are one or two little anomalies in the drug-driving penalties which I will not go into today. They are legally technical. Medically, in all this I want to get the message across to everybody for healthy driving. It is my duty as a doctor to say that if you are on medications, by and large, do not worry. If you are taking your medications without being impaired, even if they show up positive at a roadside test, you will not be prosecuted. Please stay healthy and stay driving in a healthy way. Perhaps the legislators could help us.

As well as that, I plead for our gardaí and others to have the funding. If members want to concentrate on something, I hope I am not out of turn in saying speeding should be the big target for us in Ireland to tackle immediately. If there is a bit of money to be put into that, I ask that that be done. The turnaround is about €3 million per person. We do not want to count death and injuries in terms of money, but if you want a financially balanced book, the money you put into decreasing speeding, saving lives and fewer injuries will pay back the State many times over. It is really worth it. If a good economist could be found to row in with the financial argument for our two Ministers in finance and public expenditure, I think we could sell that.