Mr. Padraig Cribben:

If I may correct the record, I know the Deputy did not misquote me intentionally but I never said that those who drive with a blood alcohol level of between 51 and 80 mg are harmless and I never said that alcohol was not a factor. What I actually said was that alcohol was not proven in this report to be the cause. Alcohol is deemed to be a factor. We do not know to what level it is a factor from the report.

The other point that needs to be made is that probably the biggest killer on the road, as everybody would accept, is speeding. The penalty for speeding is exactly the same. It is a fixed penalty and a fine. I can assure the committee as someone who drives quite a lot that speeding is a major factor on the roads.

May I address the issue of the 35 deaths? That has been used as a headline figure. It is just not true and is misleading. I included the scale in my report from page 56 of the Road Safety Authority report. Some 4.6% of the 29% of the accidents in which alcohol was a factor - a factor rather than the cause - were in the 51 to 80 mg bracket. That percentage is way short of 35. I agree with the Deputy that any one is one too many. This is not a numbers game. However, the Minister was wrong when he used the figure of 35 fatalities. He was misleading when he did so. Based on the Road Safety Authority report, it is not correct. I said it in our opening statement and will say it again. One is one too many. However, we must have evidence that alcohol was the cause and we do not have it.