Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I thank the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, and the Garda for their statements. A picture is emerging about employers' responsibility for the drivers of their vehicles. Currently, no legislation requires checks like these. When representatives of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus appeared before us, they stated that they could not achieve an agreement to have these checks because there was no legislation. The only place this system seems to work is on the railway and in airlines. For example, there is stringent testing of airline crews. Despite that, things sometimes go wrong.

I accept that there will be a cost, but safety has a cost. If there is no safety, there could be an even higher host. In an accident, there could be a fatality and vehicles and the travelling public could be endangered. Most people will agree that an employer has a duty of care to his or her staff, be they driving trucks, buses or other vehicles. This duty of care could extend to ensuring that the driver was free from a level of intoxication that would impair his or her capacity to drive.

Besides the IRHA, Mr. Conor Faughnan of the Automobile Association told us that he did not believe that there was great enthusiasm among motorists for random drug testing because many people were on medication of some kind or other for various ailments. The fear is that someone might be stopped, fined or given penalty points as a result. It is important that we tease out these issues at the pre-legislative phase. I accept the Garda's statement that roadside drug testing is already happening, but to what extent? As to the cost, there would be a cost in not having these tests as well.