Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The Attorney General has provided advice on the exercise of the powers currently available to the Garda to stop vehicles both on a general basis and in particular in connection with the enforcement of drink driving laws. Members of the Garda Síochána may stop any vehicle using a public road for the purpose of detecting offences under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2004. Those Acts provide for a legislative basis for the operation by the Garda of preliminary roadside breath testing for the purpose of detecting drink-driving offences. The legislative provisions establish that a driver may be required to submit to such a test where a vehicle has been involved in a traffic collision, where a traffic offence is committed, or where a member of the Garda is of the opinion that the driver has consumed intoxicating liquor. The requirement that a driver must submit to a preliminary roadside breath test, following the formation of the opinion of a member of the Garda that he or she has consumed alcohol, may be applied through the stopping of vehicles on an individual basis or through the establishment of dedicated checkpoints.

During his contribution to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport on 25 January, the Garda Commissioner indicated that he welcomed the clarity of the advice from the Attorney General and gave a commitment to the pursuit of enhanced levels of enforcement of drink driving offences as a result. I welcome this commitment and look forward to a significant and immediate increase in the levels of enforcement of drink driving laws. The extent of such enforcement campaigns is an operational matter for the senior Garda management. The Attorney General has also given advice that will allow for the development of a scheme for the operation of extended preliminary roadside breath testing, or "random" breath testing. Such a scheme, in which the Garda will not be required to form an opinion on alcohol consumption, will operate in a targeted manner.

I will now bring forward legislative proposals to allow the Garda to establish road checkpoints for "random" breath testing at which drivers will be required to submit to a preliminary test. The legislation will provide the basis for the production of clear guidelines that will establish definitive parameters for the application of these proposed checkpoints, in order to prevent any arbitrary use of these statutory provisions.

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